( 大理石のベンチで )
by Vitalum Vitalis
Summary: There is a few things that Izumi Hyuga is very sure of, the first being the fact that she was once the clan leader of the Hyuga Clan. The second is that she died. She knows that she died. The third is the one that she fears the most, she had been reincarnated back into her clan. The fourth is more of a promise. She will protect her village and clan.
1. Chapter 1

_**Here is a quick note from the author. I do not speak English, it is not my native language nor do I have very much experience in it. I have however a deep interest in learning it, so this is a example of my hardwork. I love the Hyuga clan, and I hope you enjoy Izumi. Paragraphs in Italics are memories, by the way. Please correct any mistakes that you may see, and drop me a review. Thanks.**_

 _..._

 _1._

 _It was an unpleasantly cold winter's night; snow was drifting through the air, the moon was sheltered by looming clouds, leaving the the grounds seeming ominous. Her finger brushed over the edge of the snow covered bench, tracing the familiar clan symbol that was carved into the marble seat. This was her small escape, her small peace in a world that was far too difficult for anyone. She admired the warm flames of the lantern; the constant dancing of the candle flicker was calming her nerves. Izumi let out a soft sigh, her hand running through her soft hair, frowning upon the realization that is was falling out, strand of long, egg plant purple hair in between her slender fingers._

 _She had once been beautiful, Izumi determined, she had once been a young woman with elegant looks. Her hair was long, often braided down her back, with two pieces framing a round face, and large lavender eyes. She wasn't the willowy type of pretty that most of her clan possessed, instead she was slender, but oak like in her mannerism and body shape, her shoulders were broad, and her hips prominent._

 _However, stress reduced her to a wraith. Her once beautiful, shiny purple locks had darkened, her once beloved hair accentuated her pallor. The worries of being a clan head had weighed her down until it became too hard to bear, it was her father who had ruined this clan, and it was she who would pay for his sins. Izumi was too mentally fragile to lead a clan of hatred, of seperation, and of secrets._

 _The quiet sound of the door behind her drew her attention as she turned away from her musing to stare up at the boy who interrupted her thoughts. He was of the Branch Family, a mere servant in the eyes of the Clan, and he was bowing politely on the ground, despite the snow under his palms, and she stood, bending down to the gently bring him up._

 _Without her formal robes on, instead in a light purple kimono, she felt more frail than ever, and used the boy to steady herself. "Is there something you needed, child?"_

 _The boy gave her a nervous smile, his curse mark was clearly shown, and it was in that, Izumi realized how broken her clan truly was. How can a Clan Leader be loved and feared at once? It was not done, and while her unmarked members beloved her, those with the cursed mark had a deep fear of her. It was in that, that Izumi found sadness._

 _"Yes, Izumi-sama. This was delivered recently directly from Hokage-sama himself by a high ranking member of his clan." His bowed again, palms stretched forward in front of him as the woman sat down, and in his hands was a scroll of gold silk, the handles made of a fine wood, and it was sealed by a kanji of fire. She stared at for a moment, her eyes wondering from the boy who dared not look at her directly, to the message that was delivered at thirty minutes past midnight._

 _Her hands wrapped around it, slowly running her finger on the familiar kanji, before she opened it. The boy stood obediantly waiting for any need she might have, and she motioned him towards the other side of her seating, and despite his looks of discomfort at the lack of formality, he sat down after a sharp stare on Izumi's part. She unraveled the scroll slowly as she considered what this could mean for her clan._

 _"Has the messenger been given room and board? The winter is bitterly cold, and I wouldn't want him to catch his death from traveling in it." Izumi inquired as she looked towards the boy, who nodded without hesitation. Satistfied, she looked down at the parchment. Konohagakure no Sato was a recently formed village, and originally had been created from the alliance between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, and both had never been completely fond of the Hyuga, and this could be fatal towards the safety of her clan. Her eyes wondered down the parchment, soaking up all information that it had to offer, and she blew out a soft sigh, her warm breath showing white in the freezing air. A burst of wind blew her hair around her face, and the boy next to her shivered, his body wracked with chills, though no one would dare complain in front of her._

 _Izumi unclasped her fur cloak, one that has been quite costly and formerly belonged to her father, and wrapped it around him, despite his protests. "Will you not accept my gift to you?" She marveled, "Why is it that a gift from your leader is too unsightly to be worn?" He looked as if she had struck him, and babbling out apologies while she simply sighed._

 _"Do not apologise, dear boy." She affirmed, "I do not mind the cold, and I would rather be a little discomfortable than to see my own clansmen shiver." His shocked eyes stared at her own matching ones before she swept him in for a one sided hug, and rerolled the scroll that rested on her lap. Neither said a word, and Izumi found herself enthralled by the dance of the snowflakes that twirled towards to the ground like butterflies in spring, and for a few tender moments all was at peace. The clan was forgotten once more as a heavy weight was lifted with the small distraction of the snow. She laid her hands on her lap, neatly folded before she turned to the boy next to her._

 _"Konohagakure writes to us with a deep intentions." She announced, "Senju-san writes us to join his village. I ask your opinion on this matter." Izumi watched the boy fidget._

 _"I am a mere servant, Izumi-sama. It isn't my place-"_

 _"I will tell you what your place is." Izumi interrupted. "They write of a place of peace, a place of happiness. Senju-san wishes us to join him, and we will not be the first to do so. Do you believe we should join?"_

 _The boy looked conflicted, and the silence held for a moment before she spoke hesitantly. "If I may speak freely, I believe that it would be in our best interests to...join."_

 _"Explain."_

 _The lavender eyes boy stared out into the powders of the snow and nodded to himself before he continued. "Many villages are being formed, with Konoha being the wealthiest yet. Clans are flocking to join, and...and, I sincerely believe a lone clan will not survive."_

 _Izumi took a moment to process this information before she spoke. "It is a pity you were born into the Branch family, you would make a brilliant advisor." The boy looked startled, openly gawking at the young woman, and she smiled back at him with a nurturing look. "And what of war?" She inquired, her eyes sharpening like the blades of a kunai._

 _"War is...there is peace now. Villages are being formed, differences are being settled since Senju-sama created an allied with the most bitter of enemies of his clan. Times have changed."_

 _As her gaze fell back to the unblemished white around them and the snow began falling harder, she agreed. "Yes, times have changed."_

 _..._

 _Izumi leapt away, going off the side as her cousin charged towards her, dodging the surge of chakra he had aimed for her, then struck at his ribs, while tumbled backwards in a roll to avoid it. He was up as quickly as he was down, now he took up a defensive pose._

 _"Dearest Cousin, I believe you must actually strike me to win." Izumi taunted, her eyes changing as she activated her Byakugan and the veins protruded from the corners of her eyes._

 _With an angered cry, he charged at her, aiming a blow directly at her chest. A smirk etched onto the younger girl's face and she spun, dodging the attack completely, chakra exploded out of her body. It was channeled out of her hands, as she rotated, the wood of the floor exploding into splinters, as her chakra shot around the room. Not expecting this, her cousin leapt away and felt the chakra from her attack cutting at the skin because of the precision of the chakra strikes. When Izumi was finished, there was two seconds of open space for her cousin to attack. He swept his leg out in a low spin kick, preparing to knock her off her feet, but Izumi had already back flipped away, and left him no time to recover from his failed attack as she was already charging again._

 _Izumi smiled a geniuine grin as she blocked his attempt at offense, avoiding his counterattack, and thrust her two open palms into his chest with ease, sending him spiraling through the air until he crumbled onto the floor in a heap of broken flesh. Izumi resumed neutral position, her right arm by her side, slightly turned, with her left out stretched, and her legs spread to be able to defend or advance._

 _Her kekkai genkai slowly retracted, leaving her eyes plain, and she waited for her cousin to rise as he usually did, only to find the healers gathering him up, and only then did she realize she went too far._

 _"Enough, Izumi." Father's voice echoed in her ears as she watched them move her cousin away, leaving a patch of blood where he had fallen, and her stomach clenched because she had done that to him. Her pose relaxed and his face was stoic as usual, but pride swelled in his white eyes._

 _"Very good, Izumi. You have improved rapidly and done the clan honor. Natsu, you will do well to follow in your sister's footsteps." He asserted, his eyes turning cold as he gazed down at Izumi's younger sister, who kept her face blank, but her elder sister read those emotions as if from a scroll, and pitied the girl._

 _"Izumi, Natsu." He motioned them to the middle of the dojo, and Natsu froze in fear before she slowly approached where her elder sister stood, and slid into her position. "Begin."_

 _Izumi smirked at her sister, the same one that had been worn during her fight with her cousin, and beckoned her over. Natsu hesitated before she took the challenge, and moved to strike her in her chest, but Izumi dodged and struck at her ribs with a swift counterattack. The palm of her hand barely grazed the area, but Natsu let out a quiet cry that made Izumi freeze long enough for the younger girl to pound her opem palms into her sister's chest, instict caused Izumi to jerk back, so it only barely touched, but the burn of chakra still stung, causing Izumi to falter in her escape._

 _With confidence from her blow, Natsu quickly got back into an offensive stance and charged towards Izumi once again. She struck, kicked, and used every tactic she knew to try to land another such blow, however Izumi was on par with her, successfully dodging and countering her attacks. Both pairs of lavender eyes were surronded by veins as the Byakugan was activated. Izumi wasn't quite sure how advanced her sister was, but that did not matter, because to her that one strike was a failure, and she did not take failure lightly._

 _"Hakke Kūshō." Natsu yelled, as a burst of chakra blasted from her hand._

 _Izumi leapt back, not intending to avoid the attack, but to find ground to counterattack, as soon as the chakra was discharged at her, she shot her own out. The two attacks striked the other, in what would have been a draw if only Natsu had been a little stronger, instead her chakra broke through and hit the girl dead on, sending her little sister into the wall._

 _Natsu was left panting, on her hands and knees, having used all her chakra on that last attack, and her Byakugan faded with the lack of energy to supply it. Izumi got into her stance once more, prepared to strike her down as quickly as possible. "Enough!" Father bellowed, which caused both girls heads to snap towards him._

 _His icy glare turned towards Natsu, "Even you cousin lasted longer in a fight, and he is only a servant." He shook his head in disappointment. "We are at war, it is a shame I will have to bury one of my daughters." Natsu bowed to her elder sister and to her father before she was dismissed, and Izumi wanted to call out to her, but choose instead to keep silent._

 _Perhaps, she could better repair the broken relationship if she did try to reach out to Natsu, to assure her of her strengths and promise that Neechan would protect her on the harsh battlefields, however Izumi had never tried before, and the fear of failure was too great for her to try. Father placed a hand onto her shoulder, "Izumi, we will be recieving a guest as of next week, and we will continue our training sessions in a more private location because of it." He avowed, which caused the ten year old to stare at him in confusion as to why, and he continued._

 _"We are in a dire need for more suitable allies, and as such, we have engaged Natsu to a young man in the Taketori Clan, and upon our agreement he will be coming here."_

 _Perhaps, she could not reach out to her sister, but she could still protect her from the shadows, as a good sister should. Izumi argued, "She is only eight! And should Natsu not be allowed to choose her own husband when she is older? Why will we need allies so soon? What if this forsaken war ends?" However, before she could stop him, his hand has struck her, causing her to go tumbling to floor as pain exploded in her jaw._

 _"What a brat, you are! We are at war! Alliances are vital, and if you continue to speak like this, I will marry you off as well! Times will never change, and you will accept that! Natsu understands her duty as a member of our clan! It is time that you, as heiress, do the same!" He barked, turning away from her, and he exited the wooden dojo, while Izumi remained there on her place on floor, only a few inches from were her cousin had fallen._

 _"Times will never change." She murmured, as she dipped her fingers in her cousin's blood. "But perhaps..." Her dreams died on her lips. Times will never change._

 _..._

 _Izumi sometimes wonders if she's truly the strong one, and that thought is painful because she has to be the strong one, Father hates failure. It's true, she is the one who perform the kata better, she is the one who can go into battles without any armour because no one gets through her defenses. Her list of achievements is quite long, however it is her little sister Natsu who she doubts herself over._

 _Ever since she was old enough to stand on her own two feet, Izumi was being groomed into the image that the clan wanted to see, they wanted a strong leader. Natsu was only two years younger, and naturally a prominent member of the clan. If Izumi died, it was up to her to take up the mantle of heir._

 _She saw the unspoken end to their praises; they wanted to tell her that she was strong—stronger and better than her sister, who they first thought to be a prodigy. Izumi had once been in the shadow of a younger sister, and her desire to be loved drove her to practice harder, until Natsu was only a passing thought in Father's mind, when his prize child was achieving more than anyone could dream of her being able to do._

 _When the time came for the two sisters to face off in battle, she had absolutely no hesitation in kicking her little sister down, though she did pause if it seemed she was in too much pain, however Natsu was better than her in ways that Izumi had never quite seen before._

 _Natsu can bring smiles to the faces of others, and she has seen how gentle she is with injured clansmen, she had noticed how she makes people laugh when they wished to cry, she has seen how Natsu can listen patiently, and most of all she had seen Natsu's smile. Her smile is once than shows how strong, gentle can be, for it holds happiness and worry, compassion and determination, and Izumi cannot smile like that._

 _Sometimes, for a fleeting moment like the wind, Izumi wonders if she is really the strone one._

 _..._

 _Izumi glared at her cousin's back, her youthful pride insulted by her cousin's blatant disregard of her authority. "How dare you defy me?" She raged at her cousin._

 _Her elder cousin did not turn to face her but she could see the defiance in his rigid stance. His hands were clenched tightly into fists and there was silence. Enraged, Izumi's hand shot out, yanking him to look at her. His eyes were too calm, holding back a storm of anger at HER. As if she had done something wrong, and she had not._

 _"As I have explained, Izumi-sama," The younger girl flinched as she remembered a time that he had called her Zumi-chan, "I could not comply to your orders, instead I made a very thought out decision, and saved a few mens' lives." He stared at her almost like a dam ready to burst, however Izumi was already pouring out her anger._

 _"I gave YOU a direct order!" She screeched in his face, her finger was poking into his chest, and she had to rise on her toes to reach his level, but Izumi was so enraged she ignored it. How dare a lowly branch member openly defy her in the midst of a battlefield? She was his superior and heiress! s_

 _His eyes were hard and his jaw was tight, like he was grinding his own teeth trying to maintain his calm aura, but Izumi was pushing him._

 _"I will not say it again," he said tersely. "I have apologized since we began our trip home, and I can only explain it as a move that allowed eight members of this clan to live to fight another day."_

 _He held her gaze for a moment longer before he bowed politely, and swiftly turned to walk away._

 _A red haze clouded her vision, her mind racing with a image of Father scolding her for her inability to control a member of a weaker class. She'd never activated a curse seal before nor had she even seen it done, so she did not know know what to expect. What she did not see coming was the screaming and begging. Izumi watched as her proud older cousin thrashed about fitfully, tearing at his own hair, howling as he did so. Finally he crumbled to floor, and perplexed she went to make sure he was not dead._

 _His body laid haphazardly as if a child had careless tossed a broken toy away, and his eyes were wide as he dealt with an unimaginable pain, and Izumi only stared on in her own bout of horror at the scene. His muscles spasmed and he could not properly inhale, leaving his mouth gaping as he struggled to get air into his lungs._

 _A sudden wave of nausea struck the young woman, and she bent over dry gagging, and swifly deactivated the seal. Her poor cousin was gasping in large puffs of air, his muscles still quaking as if they were being shocked, and he curled in on himself, going into the fetal position._

 _Falling to her knees, with tears dripping down her cheeks, she buried her face in his neck. "I...I promise. I'll never use this again." Izumi knew she would get brutally beaten when it was reported she acted like a mere child, but she did not care. They stayed in such a position for a good while, before Izumi had him taken to healers, her promise still firm in her mind._

 _She would be a clan leader that would forever leave a mark in the history of the clan for her kindness, she promised. Izumi could never get rid of the Curse Mark, but she swore she (as leader) would never use it again. Years later, Izumi was still making up for her terrible deed against her cousin, even if he assured her that all was forgiven._

 _..._

 _Izumi imagined her death differently. She imagined flashes of her life that truly mattered, like the day of Natsu's wedding, or the day of Chōrō's birth, he was her favorite (and only) nephew. She imagined seeing her ceremony that marked her Clan Head, or being in the middle of a battlefield._

 _However, as the last memory of her cousin slipped from her mind, an aloofness from everything earthly so it was like she was floating. Even Natsu's tears on her cheeks seemed so far away. She accepted her death with all the grace a 22 year old could, and she could no longer claim that she had any regrets. She had joined her clan to Konohagakure, she had made that dear Branch boy into an advisor so his part of the family had an opinion. She had done well._

 _Formerly she had feared the end. She had been terrified at what happened when you died, however she no longer felt fear or anything else for that matter. Izumi had felt fear when she first began to feel her illness, her looks faded, and her strength dimmed. She prefered to believe it was her will that kept her alive to change what needed to be changed within the clan. Izumi was free of the bondage of life that had restrained her for so long, she no longer feared death, and had ceased to think about it as the end of life. Instead, she imagined that this was the beginning of a life in a world of purity._

 _Perhaps, perhaps, Father would forgive her for changing his clan, and her long dead clansmen would be proud of her allowing Branch members an opinion on the matters of the clan. All pain had slipped away from her like sand running from between her fingers, and her wheezing was slowing._

 _She died with a slight smile on her face, with one last thought._

 _Times have certainly changed..._

...

Izumi was just thoughts, just air. There was nothingness all around her, like she was simply nowhere and everywhere all at once. Was this what it was like to be dead? When you died, you simply floated through the darkness of time and space, and nothing truly mattered because you are dead?

Floating. Waiting. Floating in the dark with only glimpses of a light not meant for her, if only...

Izumi had no sense of how long she had been in this state. It felt as if very essence had ripped apart, leaving her into becoming simple a soul, like the wind on the breeze. Never had she known such sensation, nor had she been so tormented with seperation from familiarity. She prayed feverishly for her dearest Natsu to appear, her sister would save her. She retreated, further and deeper in herself; waiting only for a call, or a light that was meant for her to go into, she wished for an invitation into the Pure Land. She waited until...

Something stirred within the darkness. Suddenly, there is a reaching, a pulling like someone had wrapped its arms around her and began tugging her down. She was caught in a field of gravity. It plunges down, irresistibly down towards a blinding white light, all she remembers next is long, flowing white hair, and two demonic Byakugan eyes, before she screeched a wild wail of agony. Then there is silence.


	2. Chapter 2

Izumi was not quite sure how much of her previous life was left to the memory of those around her, for as far as she was concerned, she was the only one to truly remember Hyuga Izumi as the clan leader she had been. At four months old, it was clear enough that her new 'parents' had not named her after the former (and only female, as far as she knew) clan leader, instead they named her this because of the body of water that Izumi had been born next to, and as it turns out she was born into spring. It had caused Izumi to wince, as she had been born in winter in her past life, and had despised the blossoming heat of spring.

Perhaps, she had done too much wrong during her era, and she deserved this after all of the killings, and the most humiliating task to be given to her was to be a infant, to be raised a child while mentally she had the wisedom of an adult, and for that she prayed to Kami for forgiveness so she might die, instead of take this torment.

Izumi's humiliations were only risings as time went on, the overwhelming thoughts and shock of her new positioning had caused her infant body (how she cursed it!) to promptly succumb to weariness, and when she had next awakened, she had soiled her napkins, leaving her to silently let tears roll down the former clan leader's face.

It was an unpleasant feeling, both the human waste and the horrific feeling of helplessness from someone who had been a prodigy, a true symbol of strength. Izumi wondered if the reason you did not retain memories of your infant years was that the mind blocked off all of the humiliations. She could not speak, and she could not take care of a problem that was a simple human necessity was enough to cause her to cry, however pride did not allow her to childishly wail, no she had survived the Warring States Era. She would not go to the level of which an infant was at.

Instead of the loud cries that alerted a mother to its child, Izumi gathered all the chakra that her small body had, and shot it out like a signal, knowing such things would draw attention. It was less than a minute when her mother appeared at the door, her father tumbling after her with worried eyes, and she saw the kunai glinting in his eyes as the moon shined on it. It was the middle of the night and the Hyuga woman looked so tired, especially as her Byakugan faded away, leaving dark circles under her eyes that made Izumi frown, and the woman still smiled down at her, but Izumi clearly saw the strain in her lips. "Izumi-chan," Her mother cooed. "What strong chakra you have, my smart girl." Izumi found herself in the arms of the woman, and was beset by the warmth of this woman, who was not her mother, and yet was.

She had never been nutured in her past life, and it was a sad day indeed when the last wisp of hope for a somewhat normal childhood had died with her mother when Natsu was born. Mothers were a rare breed in those times, as women were either targeted or died in childbirth, however despite the fact she had the awareness of an adult, her new and childish body had formed a connection with the woman who was now her mother, and allowed herself to take in just a bit of the maternal caring that she had not grown up with.

The Hyuga woman moved towards the corner of the room to a rocking chair, the old wood creaking lightly at the added weight from the mother and child duo.

"My poor dear, you must be hungry. We'll change your napkin after, alright?" The two pale lavender eyes were filled with adoration as she gazed at Izumi, and the adult infant simply stared back. The woman used her free hand to pull the collar of her loose kimono-like shirt down, exposing one of her breasts. Izumi had already dealt with too much embarrasement, and when she realized what was going to happen; her face scrunched up in distaste. Izumi was known for many things and her stubborn will was one of them, so when offered the breast, she refused it.

The male Hyuga approached. "Is she not eating again?" Her new father asked, a hint of worry in his voice, as crouched next to rocking chair, lightly touching the soft patches of hair. "You don't think she is getting ill? I can call the healers, or perhaps we can get her to the hospital?" Izumi's eyes meet her father's, and guilt started to gnaw at her when she saw the pure worry in his eyes. How far would she go to keep all of her precious clansmen happy? Quite far, so when the woman presented her breast to her again, she slowly concentrated her chakra, and latched on. Izumi took this time to begin training her chakra, trying to ignore all she was doing, and instead began gathering all of her energy into her center before distrubting it to her limbs in a simple exercise that toddlers were taught before their kata training began, and it made Izumi wonder if they still did such.

"Noboru." Worry laced the older woman's voice, "Do you feel that?" Two pale eyes darted to her husband, who smiled reassuringly.

The man, Noboru, simply nodded. "Asuka-koi, it's fine, you know this. Our Izumi-chan is simply...a prodigy." There was no uncertainty in his voice, however years of mastering the technique of body language had taught Izumi that voices were not all that they seemed. Instead, he fidgeted at his own words, and while he was remaining strong for her new mother, Asuka, he was just as concerned at the moment, which did delay Izumi's training.

Once more, her duty to appease her clan overrid her wish to build and strengthen her chakra, instead she stopped so the two could control their own phobias, and what did they have to fear? Her original parents would have rejoiced having such a strong child, yes, things have changed.

After her feeding was finished, and her napkin had been changed, Asuka had laid her down in her crib, and Izumi had feighed sleep to allow them to rest easy. Though when they had left the room, her eyes fluttered opened, and she began to think.

From what Izumi had determined, it had been a few decades (perhaps three or four) since her time, as in the distance she had seen the Hokage monument and etched into the mountain were three faces, instead of the familiar singular face of Hashirama Senju that she had died with, and it made her smile to see Tobirama Senju on the monument.

When they had met to make agreements with the village over the adding of the Hyuga Clan, she had found Tobirama himself to be too cold for her tastes, but he also loved this village, and she had complete faith in him. The third man carved into the rock was unknown to her, but Izumi was sure she would soon find out, and it didn't quite bother her all too much at the lack of his identity.

Of course given these little pieces of information made her mourn her lack of more knowledge. She had to wonder; what had happened to Natsu and her son? Had they died because she had been floating in the darkness of death, and had not been there to protect them? She wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought. Izumi also wondered for the state of the Branch Member advisor that she had appointed, the one who had sat with the sickly young woman on a bench in the cold winters' air, and Izumi mourned the fact that she had never bothered to learn his name.

Dread settled in her stomach as it all began to sink in. Izumi's entire life was gone, blown away, right out of her grasp. Her entire life had consisted of being a leader and a fierce warrior in times where there was no peace, and now she was baby in a world that was not her own, in a life that was not her own.

She was born into a clan that had expectations for her. Izumi's new life also meant… a lifetime of killing, one thing she had escaped from via death. Being born into the Hyuga clan meant she was expected to die serving and fighting for Konohagakure, she herself had agree to it when she and Hashirama were discussing a treaty.

However, from all that Izumi understood, it is impossible to change our destiny. If this was her fate, to be born again, the she must learn to adapt. She remembers Father once told her when she was only six, if you should stray from that path that Kami had set you on, fate will set you back where you needed to go. Perhaps, perhaps Izumi had never quite followed the path set for her, and this was a chance for redemption.

Besides, Izumi never had a childhood. Not like the rest of the clan children (even Natsu) did anyway. She had been given a starting point from which she was told to begin from, and perfection was the end. She grew up with battlefields, blood, and the pressure of being a heiress. Her new parents both had unmarked foreheads, so Izumi was sure they were high ranking, however no leader's wife would breast feed herself when wet nurses from the Branch Family could feed them, so she did not have to worry over being the perfect heiress.

Maybe, just maybe, Izumi could bear to be a little selfish to give herself the pleasures of being a child for once in her 22 years (not counting her years in Death's grip) of life. Perhaps...

...

 _Four year old Izumi Hyuga was disappointed, no that was an understatement, she was very, very disappointed. She had turned a whole four years old and her little sister was turning two soon, and could not walk or train, and it made the elder sister upset. Defiance laced Izumi's face as she stared at her sister, and the frown on her face changed as she crouched next to the pretty little girl. "I'm going to teach you to walk, Natsu."_

 _The purple haired girl grabbed the toddler by her arms, and stood her up, before releasing her. Natsu collapsed on to the tatami mats like weighed down by stones, almost as if her little legs had no bones._

 _"No. No." Her usually quiet sister cried._

 _"I'm not hurting you. I'm going to teach you to walk." Izumi heaved her up again, and she collapsed once more, her pales eyes watering._

 _"No. No!"_

 _"Father hates failures, and I could walk by one year old, and you are almost two. All you got to do is try, it's easy. Now come on," and she hauled the blue haired girl up once more._

 _Natsu was a shy, pleasant toddler (everyone called her a baby still, but one to three is toddler in Izumi's eyes) and usually she did not yell. However the little blue haired girl kept on a little mantra of "no" that caused Izumi to get frustrated._

 _"Father," stated Izumi matter-of-factly. "says that there is a war going on, and as the heirs of this clan, we are the strongest of all. You need to walk. It is for your own good, okay? I'm helping you, because...because the enemy will kill you without a second thought, so we need to get you walking and training quickly. You were suppose to walk before 18 months old, okay?"_

 _Izumi grabbed her little sister again, and she stood alone for a few seconds. When she fell, Izumi could help the gentle smile that slid on her childish features. "I told you it was easy." She told the toddler, who stared up at her with excited eyes, and she laughed brightly._

 _Izumi picked her up, "Let's start on steps now."_

...

Gripping the edge of the low table in the dining room, Izumi scowled, staring at the cursed wooden floor. Her little one year old legs were forsaken, and she could see why Natsu had not taken to walking very quickly. The muscles in her legs were weak, too weak for Izumi's likings. How dare Kami treat her this way?

Her first few months of life had been been productive to say the least. She had exactly eight months of meditating, and training her chakra to once again spread along her body for her Jūken, and when her arm muscles became stronger, she began to practice when her parents were not around.

However that all led up to this moment, a moment when she could begin her journey into walking like a civilized person. Izumi placed a foot in front of the other, then took a confident step forward with the support of the table. Asuka cheered for her, calling for Noboru to come see their brave, big girl, which made Izumi frown slightly because of the uselessness of the cheers when it came to her walking skills. She took a wobbly step, and managed to stay standing for the next ten damn seconds before she fell, her face smacking against the hardwood, and Asuka gasped, horrified. The older Hyuga scooped up Izumi, calling for her husband. "Noboru, Noboru, get in here. Izumi-chan fell!"

Within seconds, the ninja was in the room, his gear was on, and it was obvious he was preparing for a mission before his wife got his attention. "Izumi?" He examined the one year old's head, and Izumi kept her face blank. Noboru rubbed the bump that resided the middle of Izumi's forehead, and she scowled at him, not because of pain, but of the fact they were babying her. Izumi struggled out of her father's grip, and once again got down to the floor in a sitting position with Noboru hovering nervously, so she sent him a reassuring look, her calm nature spilling out of her.

She knew that she scared her 'parents' with her attitude, but Izumi refused to act like a normal child when she could be as smart as any adult dared be, and as wise as an elder. Izumi was too calm, too good-natured for any baby to be, and that worried her parents more than anything else. Izumi still did not quite understand what they feared, so she tried to be a little less grown-up. Why would a talented child be a burden?

Trying again, she grabbed onto the edge of the wooden table, and pushed herself up onto chubby legs, wobbling as she went. Izumi frowned, and realized her legs were too weak for her large ambitions, and came to a singular conclusion: chakra.

Izumi sighed, a frown marring her face before she began gathering her chakra to her core, twisting and moulding it into two seperare streams, and letting it flow to her legs, causing them to be stronger. Using her chakra fueled legs, she took a single step, and waited to fall.

She didn't and that alone made her swell with pride, sure Izumi had cheated, but she had taken her first full step. Asuka shrieked, throwing herself to the ground on her knees, and spreading her arms out, Noboru taking his place behind her.

"Come to Kaa-chan!" She urged, her dark blue hair waving around behind her as she held in her excitement. "Come here, Izumi."

Izuni scoffed because this was not her mother, but there was a soft pang in her heart as she realized she had never gotten to do this with her own mother, and besides Asuka had not signed up to having a adult minded child. Izumi made sure to wobble, but did walk towards Asuka with a childish (and not very good) yell of "Kaa-chan!" before she forced herself to tumble into the Hyuga's arms, and tears fell on her face as Asuka swung her around, and Noboru smiled lovingly down at her.

If they noticed her use of chakra, they did not mention it.

...

 _ **Age Two**_

 **日向泉**

"Do you know what this says, I-zu-mi~" Asuka sang, wiggling the thin brush in her hands in a way that caused ink to fly, and it hit her sleeve, causing Izumi to flinch. Such things in her time were not acceptable, and a neat apperance was a very important rule, and that stain was simply staring at her.

Izumi stared up at the older woman, the pointed at the kanji very slowly. "Hyuga Izumi." She replied. Asuka clapped, with a smile on her face as she did so.

"Very good, Izumi-chan!" Asuka cheered. "I always knew you would be a very bright girl." She coated the brush in the ink once more, before she turned to the purple haired girl. "We'll let you try, okay? Let's be careful not to stain your clothes." She added motherly. Izumi frowned, pale eyes narrowing.

 _Perhaps you should try not to stain your kimono,_ Izumi thought, _before you start with me._

Of course Izumi DID NOT voice that aloud, because it would be too impolite to even dare say something like that. Izumi smiled brightly at her mother, and nodded eagerly. However when Asuka went to roll up her sleeves, she yanked her arms back, and delivered a sharp look, that made Asuka smile with a slight strain in her eyes.

The elder Hyuga handed over the brush, setting the paper in front of the adult-child, and smiled gently. "Try to copy your name." She urged.

Izumi thought carefully about what to write, and then quickly decided as she looked down at the blotch of black corrupting light blue silk.

 **日向泉は** **,** **インク汚れを嫌います**

After using her best hand writing (which was hard considering the fact her hands were so small and chubby), she presented it to her mother with a innocent smile. Asuka took the paper, confusion in her pale eyes, and read it aloud. "Hyuga Izumi hates ink stains..." She trailed off, her shock registering by the way her jaw slacked, and her grip on the paper tightened significantly, however all the tightness fell off of her face as she beamed down at the toddler.

"My brilliant, lovely spring." complimented Asuka. "I'm very proud of you."

Izumi knew how worried Asuka truly was. She had decided early on not to hide her brilliance, and Izumi doesn't quite call it brilliance because she is twenty-two years so, she doesn't hide her advancements from anyone. However, Asuka is always so scared and worried, like someone will snatch Izumi away if she even dares show the slightest bit of intelligance, and Izumi believes that may be the case. The world, no matter what era it is, will always be full of hatred and distaste, and perhaps enough so to steal children away to make weapons. Izumi feels sympathy for the poor woman, and dumbs herself down.

Hyuga Asuka's first born is quiet, people (perhaps friends of Asuka) who come and go whisper, she is solemn and quiet. Abnormal. She is strange, she looks too wise, her hair is so strangely colored, why does her chakra act like that? Izumi dislikes (not hates, because hatred is pitiful) the whispers and tries to act normal. The reason she is quiet is because she knows too many words, she is solemn because she misses the sister that she never truly got to bond with, and she is too uncomfortable in peace. The Warring States Era is where she belongs, is where her heart will always be, and where her sister was, or used to be.

She is never allowed outside to meet the elders, even if she is Main Branch, and Izumi mourns the fact she does not know Natsu's fate, as she always does. The reason she is abnormal is because of multiple factors such as the fact she is an adult in a child's body, she is a former clan leader, she is from a period of war, and her new mother Asuka hurts her heart more than she knows.

Asuka shares the same indigo hair with Natsu, and that is all they share. Asuka had a pointed nose, high cheek bones, and a tan body, while Natsu had full lips, a pale body and a smaller nose. However the hair was what caused heart ache, and it also left her dreams filled with memories of what if. What if she had tried to be a good sister, or even try to train Natsu, or even stop the wedding that Natsu had not signed up for.

It left Izumi will a hole in her soul, a scar that no amount of happiness could ever fill. She hadn't even gotten a chance to tell Natsu she had loved her or that she was the strongest kunoichi that Izumi had ever seen. It all made her wish to cry, and clan leaders did not cry, so excuse her for looking a little solemn. A kimono sleeve suddenly brushed against her face as Asuka smoothed out her hair, and the older woman smiled. "How about we take a walk around the compound? Go fetch your shoes."

"Hai."

Obediantly, Izumi stood, her feet softly thumping on the tatami mats (she prayer her mother did not get any ink on the mats, for she would die) and went towards the door, slipping on her minature, light pink genin sandals, before she turned to wait for her mother by the door. Asuka followed after her, amazingly enough, in a new kimono that did not have a stain on the sleeve, and it seemed to match Izumi's yukata. Asuka holds out a small item that makes Izumi smile childishly.

"Kaoru!" She cheered, taking the doll into her arms. Izumi had gotten this doll directly from the Hyuga Clan Leader (via a Branch member) and she was expected to cherish it, and Izumi played the façade well. It was a porcleain doll, with black hair and glossy, black eyes. It's kimono was made of real gold silk, and she carried it everywhere with her for show. Izumi gently took the doll, crushing it against her chest, and took Asuka's offered hand before they stepped outside.

This is not her first trip outside the house, however it is the first time when people are bustling around. Asuka lead her out of the main courtyard, instead they slip down a hallway, Branch members bowing as they went, leaving Izumi little time to truly examine them as she is quickly whisked away by her mother. Tension is high in these halls- why, Izumi wondered quickly.

Of course there is always unrest between the families; however what could cause it to be this bad? Izumi was determined to find out as soon as possible, and she was determined to speak to who ever the HELL was in charge. The clan leader/toddler was beyond pissed as everyone seemed to treat the Branch Family like trash and mere servants, and had she not enforced rules too keep this from happening? As far as she knew, Natsu had been in charge and then probably her nephew; had they managed to fuck everything up?

The normally fair-tempered woman was seething, and momentarily forgot her mother, until a soft finger poked her cheek, a worried glint dancing in her eyes. Asuka spoke softly as she said that Izumi's rather mature and serious and should smile more, that angry frowns should go away.

"Why?" Izumk responds, looking at her mother with unamused eyes, and the older woman frowned too.

"Because that frown mars your pretty little face," stated Asuka, before she gently tugged Izumi down another hallway, and towards the end there was no door of any kind, instead it was just light pooling into the hall. The area leads to a small garden, one of which was empty except for one or two Branch members (she assumes they are the gardeners) and there is a lone, marble bench that makes Izumi gasp in shock. It was HER bench, the one that she had brought over from the former compound to Konoha, and her heart clenched.

The sun washes the garden with a golden glow, and the wind rustles through the bushes. Blossoms swayed in the breeze among other blooms that Izumi was familiar with, and white petals fluttered around her head, reminding her of the day with the snow, and for a moment she could hear the sound of the old days ringing in her ears, making her sick.

"When Kaa-chan was a young girl, she studied the language of flowers. It's called," Asuka began before Izumi interrupted.

"Hanakotoba."

However, Asuka continued undeterred. "Yes, good girl, Hanakotoba. Anyway, my Kaa-chan had once studied it, and I had studied it, and since you cannot yet go to school, I was hoping I could show you?" Asuka poses it as a question, and waits for a proper responce from the toddler. Izumi knows all of this, and she had taken in interest in it herself, so she nodded. Asuka beamed down at her, pulling her along so she crouched alongside the toddler, pointing at bush with thorns, and the older Hyuga cautiously kept her away from them. Her slender finger motioned to the flower itself.

"This," Asuka chirped. "Is the Akaibara, do you want to guess what it stand for?"

Red Rose.

"Uh." She hummed. "W-w-wove?" She stuttered with a childish accent. Asuka cheered.

"Right! Romance." Asuka dragged her by her one loose arm, babbling on and on about the language of flowers, while Izumi considered her position. So she was dead and not dead, she was Izumi but wasn't Izumi, and she was certainly a strange case.

Izumi had decided as she watched her 'mother' go on and about flowers that she would protect her. She loved Hyuga Asuka because Asuka loved her, and it was nice to not be the adult for once. She would become a kunoichi, and she would become a fierce one at that. She wished only to protect the village that she had helped create, and to do her duty as clan leader to protect her clan. All of her clan.

She was Hyuga Izumi no matter what, and anything else that follows her on her new path was just fate.


	3. Chapter 3

_**2 Years Old**_

Izumi swung her legs from her seat at the marble bench, tracing the symbol that reminded her of home. She had Kaoru clutched in her tiny hands, and she was alone, besides the two Branch members that were her guards (Asuka refused to leave her without care), and she was humming pleasantly to herself one of the few songs that she knew from her former life.

 _'Cherry Blossom, Cherry Blossom_

 _In fields and villages_

 _As far as you can see._

 _Is it a mist, or clouds?'_

Izumi hears it echo in her mind with an unfamiliar voice from a long forgetten memory. She supposed it could have been her real mother, and she did recall times when the woman sang to her, but that was all she remembered of her. She died after birthing Natsu.

In what limited memory of her mother she had been a pretty woman who looked like Natsu, and was always pregnant. Matsuyo Hyuga would forever been etched into her daughter's memory a round and tired-eyed and swollen-ankled, and very beautiful with long indigo locks.

"Exucse me, Izumi-sama." The voice of one of her guards (or babysitters) broke through her song, and startled her. Her eyes darted to the Branch woman, Oka, and she smiled brightly at the elder girl. Her name itself meant Cherry Blossom, the same as her song, and the woman was very pretty in Izumi's eyes (she reminded her of a Miss Naori Hyuga from a few decades ago) with her short, curled hair and tanned skin. Next to her, Seishiro grunted with a scowl on his face, and a hatred in his eyes. As far as Izumi knew, Asuka and Noboru were on a mission for the first time in two years, and Izumi was to be guarded by this couple for a week because they are mere servants and their job is to tend to the needs of the Main Family (not that Izumi believes that) and Seishiro resented her for her status.

"Hai, Oka-nee?" Izumi feigned as much innocence as she could bear to in her state. Oka's eyes widen significantly at the words, and immediately she knelt in front of the toddler, shaking her hands in a "no" manner.

"No, no, Izumi-sama. It's simply Oka. Oh-kah." She sounded out for the toddler's benefit, however the girl scowled at her, and copied her "no" motion.

"Just Izumi."

"N-No, Izumi-sama. That isn't proper. That is a very bad girl. And it could get us," She referred to herself and her husband with a wave of the hand. "in trouble, okay? Please, ma'am, do not call me such, and I cannot call you such." Oka gave a hesitant glance towards Seishiro for help, and Izumi caught it with a deep frown marring her pretty face.

"Tch, just tell it that we need to go." Seishiro intoned, which sparked a reaction from Oka. She whirled around, gently covering Izumi's ears so she could not hear, however Izumi could read lips.

"Izumi-sama is a she, not an it. And such comments will get your mark activated." Oka fretted. "Please be respectful. The flowers have ears." There is a tension in the air as she releases the little Hyuga's ears. She knelt down to fix the elegant yukata that Izumi has donned, and smiles lightly at her.

"Izumi-sama, we must get you inside now to get you dinner. Noboru-sama has left us strict instructions as to how to care for you." She gave the girl a smile, waiting patiently for her to agree, however something in Izumi triggered violently. It was like this body was made for simpler emotions, and she shook her head in defiance. It was a very childish act, but it was like Izumi had no choice in the matter. Something bubbled inside of her, like an angry child that needed to be appeased and she refused to leave this bench. HER bench.

"I stay."

Izumi internally moaned, of all the words she knew, she had to act uneducated infront of her people.

Oka's face darkened, but she hid it well. "But Izumi-sama, we really must be going."

Izumi argued, "Bench." She kept tracing the worn part of the bench where the clan symbol had once been, until it had finally succumbed to the coercings of time and weather. The marble was still grand, though duller and washed out. This was her bench, she had demanded its construction, and its transportation to Konoha. Had she not the right to stay with what was hers? Izumi had decided that she missed her time as Clan Leader, for she was somewhere she belonged then. She had a place in society and she had her sister, she had the power to be her own babysitter.

"How about I tell you a story about this garden if you promise to come with us after?" Oka reasoned, her hands wrapping together in a pleading manner as she got on her knees in front of the toddler. Seishiro made a sort of growl and the hatred in his eyes shined through, but he remained silent as Izumi's eyes pierced his own. Izumi understood the resentment, but to show such a death-filled glance at a mere toddler was not exceptable, and she would NOT allow it.

The little girl nodded firmly, her chin raising a little higher as Oka beamed, hands clapping together before (with an elegant sweep of her kimono'd arm, she motioned around) began her tale. "This is more of a tale of two sisters. There is once a Hyuga Princess by the name of Izumi like you," She started, causing her to frown.

She had been fooled apparently. It was once of those made-up stories where they used your name, however she did her best to seem interested.

Oka smiled as she picked a daisy, twirling in between her fingers before slipping into the doll's hair. "Well, Izumi-Hime loved and protected this clan with all her heart. Everyone from the oldest to the smallest, no matter the ranking was loved by her, and there was only one person who loved her more than the clan-" there was a pause as she inhaled- "and that was her little sister, Natsu-hime. When Izumi-Hime died, her sister was so filled with grief that she went into mourning for years before she realized how dark her life had become.

"This very bench was where Izumi-hime loved to sit, and Natsu-hime had it placed here. She wanted a garden in honor of her late sister, because black was worthless to her when she could have all these colors." The woman stands, brushing herself off once, then twice and offered a hand to the young girl. Numb, Izumi takes the hand obediantly, following after the chipper woman who was her babysitter. Seishiro's red-hot glare burned into her back, but that was as far as he went, not that she cared.

This was her legacy by Natsu. The one sister that she had, who Izumi had rejected. Natsu was the one that everyone forgot, the one who wasn't talented, the one that Izumi pushed away. Natsu was the one she wanted back. The Hyuga Clan was one of four prominent clans within the village, and one of the beginning clans of Konohagakure no Sato. The members were often aloof, unfeeling people that needed no one but their own clan. Emotions, Izumi realized, were painful. That is why the Hyuga lock them away inside their hearts.

These feelings welling in her chest are useless, they are harmful and useless to her her; the longing for impossible things; nostalgia for what never was; the desire for what could have been; regret over what she should have done; anger over who she had once been. Feeling regret over one girl was enough to send Izumi into a depression, and she remembers a time when her people looked at her as a very affectionate person; someone who understoor emotions; someone to go to for problems; a person of character. And it was all true, except for the fact her own emotions were the ones she did not understand.

Images of blue haired girl falling against the mats of a dogo flashes against her eyelids, causing her to flinch violently away, and she kept silent despite the worried faces that Oka gave her.

 _'Sister...I-'_

 _'Not now Natsu, I'm busy. Go train.'_

Natsu had been her everything, and to know she had been grieving Izumi's 'death' made her feel even more regret at how poorly she had treated her sister in life. She drove her away. She ruined that girl's confidence. She didn't deserve a garden. As much as she loved Natsu, she hated showing it, emotions were weakness.

Izumi wished that Natsu had hated her. Hatred was something Izumi could deal well with. This...this...was not. These emotions were not. Why couldn't her little sister have hated her as much as she hated herself?

...

It was silent besides the sounds of crickets in the distance, and bustling of servants. Her own two Branch members, Oka and Seishiro, were safely tucked away into the dining room where they finally got their dinner. Servants ate after the Main Branch, getting their scrapes of meat and remains of dishes. How is it that the Branch Family fell so low? It left Izumi wondering.

She took a deep breath of cold air, exhaling with a loud sigh, which broke the evening's silence. The autumn air could not get colder at all if nature tried. Besides her, only a few other people were out on the courtyard, and most of them were just patrols. All of the main houses had back doors that led to a training courtyard, and each had small porch-like areas that were connected and constantly patrolled.

Izumi had her hands shoved into her kimono sleeves, and tossed a pebble down onto the sandy ground, frowning as it instead hit one of the patches of grass. Her aim had worsened slightly as she was not used to this body yet.

Even practicing her kata is a little more difficult, it is because she is too used to fighting in a body much larger than this useless form. She is used to fighting her enemies with long, dense, deadly arms and legs that were firm with lean muscle, and armor. This small body is new to her, and she cannot practice with out someone to practice on, however no one offers to teach her yet.

It makes Izumi smile slightly at the thought. She had once opposed teaching children so young the Jūken, and was going to outlaw it before her death. The pitter-patter of the soft rain begins as soon as she begins to finally get comfortable, and it reminds her of a time when she had to sleep on the cold ground with ants slowly crawling up her arms and legs, and it leaves her haunted.

"Izumi-chan," Her mother cooes, opening the screen door. "Time to come in and wash up. We have something to talk about."

Izumi forces herself up, slipping her shoes off her feet at the door before she enters. She walks to the bathroom and with the help of a stepping stool, get close to the sink so she cam turn on the faucet to wash her hands off. It was while she did this that she stands before the mirror, looking at the body that is now hers. The child's body that she has been born into is strangely alike and different from her own, with silky purple hair that falls to her chin – so different from the long, long streams of straight eggplant purple she had before – pudgy fingers, and hauntingly familiar lavender eyes.

Everything is different in this foreign world, everything except for the clan. It stands regal and proud admist tumultuous discordance that is the world. There have been Two Shinobi Wars, Izumi had learned. Two wars of bloodshed and hatred between the villages that were created for peace. It sickened Izumi to no end, however her people are still breathing and have brought glory to their name. She finds comfort in that.

She graceful descends from her stool, landing on the ground without a sound before she exits the bathroom with freshly cleaned hands, and a pleasant smile. Despite the house having electricity, there are paper lanterns decorating the home (they remind Izumi of her era), and they cast a warm, sunset orange glow around the house. The lights highlight Asuka's large smile as she holds onto Noboru's hands with excitement dancing in her eyes.

"Izumi-chan, baby, come sit with me." Asuka said sweetly, her hand brushing against the cushions of the couch thst she rested on, Noboru touched her face affectionately with calloused hands, and a gentle smile.

For the first time in two years, Izumi really examines her parents, and she likes what she sees. Her father had plain white eyes with a lilac hue, black hair that fell well past his upper back and a very well round face. Her mother had lavender eyes, was fair-skinned with straight indigo hair. It was quite obvious of their love, even Izumi could see it.

She couldn't remember a time when Matsuyo and Kazou Hyuga where there was any sort of love. In fact, she couldn't remember them even looking at each other at all. If she thinks hard enough, she can remember how blank his face was when Matsuyo was declared dead after delivering a daughter. Instead of tears, he cursed her to hell for not bearing him a son. Izumi wasn't sure what to make of this, so she simply padded towards them, and sat down elegantly on the soft cushion.

Old habits forced her to keep her hands folded onto her lap, and her posture was as straight as an arrow. "Hai, Kaa-chan?"

"Izumi," Noboru said calmly, stepping forward, "We would like to talk to you about something very, very important."

Izumi attentive as always to her new parents, simply nodded before the childish nature bubbled in her chest again and she forced out, "How important?"

"Very."

"What is it?"

Asuka then hesitated at her, causing Izumi to give her a reassuring smile, and she said, "We want your opinion on if we decide to have another baby."

Izumi blinked. Once. Then twice. "What?" She asked confused, her mind not allowing her to think of pregnancy. It was like she had gone totally blank minded.

"A baby."

They all watched Izumi's face as she blanched. A baby. A brother or sister. Someone like Natsu, someone to love and cherish. They watched her, waiting for a reaction, but Izumi simply shrugged. "Okay." She intoned.

"Just okay?"

"Okay. I'll protect him or her. I'll be a good big sister. Just get pregnant."

She sees that her parents have long since grown used to the absurd levels of intelligence their two-year-old daughter shows, even Oka and Seishiro have, but as of now, they seemed quite shocked at her words.

"Goodnight." She says politely as she slides off the cushion, and pads off to her room. Before she makes it to the door, she throws over her shoulder. "If you concieve a girl, let's name her Natsu."

The door shuts behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Quick Note:**_

 _ **I know I had quite a few memories into the story, but I'm trying to weave two girls into one. There is Old Izumi and New Izumi, and while they are the same, I like to compare their environments, like two stories in one...kind of. Please review and keep reading.**_

...

 **3 Years Old**

A year in and already, Izumi was quite sure that another child was not possible for her mother. Perhaps it was wishful thinking to assume if Asuka had another child, it would be Natsu's reincarnation. Izumi had a theory that Asuka was barren, and Izumi had been born solely because of her soul being thrust into her womb. This simple fact had caused an eruption of remorse and guilt in Izumi's heart. Asuka and Noboru deserved better than herself. They deserved a child whom they could teach; a child that was really...a child. Izumi did not deserve this life, and she vowed to make it up to them by protecting this village.

She was sitting with her mother nearby, folding laundry because today was warmer than it has been, and the weather smiled down at them. Asuka sat next to a tree, her back leaning against it as the smell of fresh sheets filled the air. Oka could be doing the laundry, it was her duty to the clan, and Izumi had frowned when she had heard Asuka's friend Mitami speak of such things. Izumi had grown as close as a Main Family member could to the woman who had been raised scorning her family. She did not blame them; instead she wished to help in all ways.

Speaking of Mitami, Izumi was horrified to discover something of which she had never imagined. For years and years, civilians always tended to either be in small villages, keeping to themselves, or used for a clan's advantage. It made her sick to her stomach to discover squads could consist of NOBLE-blooded clan members and civilians; how could the daughter of a rice paddy farmer be ninja alongside clan children, she would ponder. Izumi feared for this world.

Izumi also began to fear for Natsu. She was sure she was dead, and no one spoke of her, nor of the current clan leader. The sunshine of Natsu's presence was far from her now, like a leaf in the breeze.

Izumi had grown bored with twirling a leaf around her fingers, and instead (while drawing little attention to herself from Asuka) used her chakra in a loosely made Hakke Kūshō, focusing on using only enough chakra to cause the leave to be shot up, then float down. It required precise chakra, and her new chakra caused her distress, seeing as it itched terribly. It did not feel quite right, and Izumi wondered if her own chakra nature had been changed slightly to accomadate her reincarnation. She remembers her old nature to be Wind, and it was in her general opinion that her new one was Water.

With deliberate care Izumi placed the leaf in the middle of her small palm and concentrated her chakra to that point. She did not blow it up into the air, instead she let the leave hover for a moment on her chakra, and it looked as if it was floating on a ocean current. The feeling of chakra was instinctual to her by now, so as she grew bored of hovering, she let her chakra blow out of her palm, ripping the leave into shreds.

It makes Izumi pause for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at what she had done, tiny pieces of a broken leave floating towards the ground. It was like seeing something new for the first time, and her Hakke Kūshō was nothing new to her, in fact it was her second favorite technique, and she had used it on multiple occasions in battle or against her sister. What made this so special? It was the first time she had used it for her own playful purposes. This technique tore apart a leave the same way it tears apart organs; shredding it like tearing internal tissue.

Izumi frowned, it was strange. Where she would be killing at this age in her era, she uses chakra for fun. Is this what peace is like? She quite enjoyed it, and veins buldged around her eyes as her Byakugan activated. Staring at the tree, her hands slammed against it with enough force to cause chakra burns when the pudgy digits were removed from the trunk, however Izumi got her desired effect.

Focusing her chakra, she gathered into her palms, and shot it out once to see if she could get every leaf, and frowned when she did not. Once more, she struck her tree, this time she used her fingers as her main weapons, precisely honing her chakra into her fingers. It took a while but eventually Izumi had success. She cautiously tried again, her hands touching the inside wood of the tree (the poor thing was probably dead) and the remaining leaves fluttered lifelessly towards the ground where the remains of their brothers lay torn. Izumi tried once more, her palms moving with all the flexiblity her small body could produce, and she watched her own deep blue chakra flow into needle-like senbon from her fingers, destroying the leaves with a single prick throught middle. Her Byakugan was sloppy, but as a Hyuga child that was to be be expected, and she beamed as she watched each individual leaf fall.

Losing herself to the Inner Child of this body, Izumi had a small noise of happiness, bouncing on the soles of her feet, and her life was amazing and she couldn't help but laugh at what she managed to do with her new chakra nature. It was only then, when Asuka moved did she realize she had an audience.

 _She was in my blind spot!_

Izumi spun to face her with her Byakugan activated, and she did her most pure-hearted smile, "Kaa-chan," She beamed, her heart twisted at how casual she sounded. How could a CLAN LEADER have not sensed her own mother? Izumi scolded herself, promising to perform extra kata to make up for her lapse of attention. "Look what I can do." Her smile was pinched, and fell all together when Asuka dropped the folded laundry to the dirty ground, and forced herself onto her knees. She frowned uncomfortably when Asuka's hands wrapped around her face, the tips brushing against the pale veins.

Her gaze flickered quickly across the fields, and for a brief moment her Byakugan flickered to life as she scanned the perimeter. "Where did you learn that?" she asked, sounding half hysterical. "Izumi, how?" She urged, her grip was tightened, and Izumi's eyes darted around as her own kekkai genkai faded from her face.

Izumi's eyes were widened in surprise and she lost all concentration on her chakra. Her mother usually hid any fear she may have under praises and cheers, but to see her like this terrified Izumi to the core. Her mother's face didn't give very much away but absolute terror at all of Izumi's achievements.

Something inside of her (Izumi called it Inner Child) snapped, tears flooded her eyes, "D-Did I do something wrong? Is something bad gonna happen?" Izumi wished to break out into sobs and she did not know why. It was a lack of control and her former father would have slapped her clear across the face if he had seen these tears.

Asuka's entire body went rigid, and she became lucid once more, "No! Kaa-chan is just so proud of you, baby. She has never seen someone pick up on their Byakugan and Jūken so early." She complimented, and that caused Izumi to smike. Asuka moved to gather her fallen laundry, and Izumi realized it was probably dirty now, and must be rewashed. Izumi began to help, and both girls were soon on the ground, refolding.

"Can you begin to teach me Jūken?" Izumi asked suddenly. Her knowledge is too vast for suspicion not to be raised, and she could no longer bear such risks. The sooner her 'training' begins the better, however Asuka's face twisted into one of discomfort.

The woman clutched onto Izumi tightly, "I wanted your father to tell you, but the Elders have requested you start your training when you began to use your Byakugan, so I suppose you will get to..." The strain was clear in her eyes, and Izumi cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Why do you seem so sad then?" Izumi said in her best 'Child-Innocence' voice.

"I just don't want you to grow up to fast. Children deserve to be children."

Izumi threw her head back and laughed.

...

 _At the ripe age of twelve years old, Hyuga Izumi became not only the youngest leader in the history of the Hyuga Clan, but also the first female. The horrific death of her father had left her shaken, but she recovered from it quickly with a mask of indifference. Every single man and woman saw the potential in the young girl; they already knew of her great talent in the ways of the Jūken. She would make a fine leader._

 _However, she was only a little girl, one of which who had just became an orphan. Often, she could not seem to hold her attention on adult-matters, and was slacking off in her paperwork to watch her sister play from the window in her office. She hid herself away from the rest of the clan, and no one connected to the lonely, young clan leader. Not even Natsu herself._

 _Because of her young age, the council had full rights to veto against her, or make decisions for her until her 16th birthday, and at the recommendation of the master advisor's wife Lady Hibana, the council assigned her nephew Hyuga Hiroto as the child's tutor, and Lord Master to keep her on track. He wasn't much of a shinobi, in fact his entire life was based soley upon politics and teaching of the higher arts to the scholars of the clan._

 _He did not have children of his nor had he ever had an interest in them; he found them to be nuisances. He was a Main Branch member, and was harsh in attitude, often times he was slamming a hard-sounding wooden cane against the girl's desk._

 _It was sad, really, to watch the two during a normal day. Often times, the servants were mourning the poor girl's innocence. They stood obediantly to the sides of the room in case either master or student needed anything. Izumi once again neglect her work to stare out the window, and the cane snapped against the wood with a sickening clack that made the servants wince. How could the child be blamed for her difficult circumstances? Had she chosen for her father to be cut into pieces in front of her? Everyone knew the elders of the Hyuga Council becoming exasperated at the girl, and were pressuring Hiroto to 'fix' the child. Izumi had picked up on this with her advanced intellect, explaining the increase in her motivation, but still something had to change._

 _"Izumi-sama," The cane slammed against the wood of her desk, and startled, Izumi shook herself from her musings and looked at him with a bored expression._

 _"My apologies, Shu masutā." Izumi intoned obediantly, but her eyes once more drifted towards the window. Outside, a familiar blue-haired girl giggled as she played with a dark-eyed Taketori boy, and Izumi was twirling her ink brush inbetween her fingers with a longing look. Hiroto frowned deeply, the dents in his forehead expressed his stress over this, and he seemed angry at her already. His cane slapped against his palm, and his white eyes glowered down at her._

 _Izumi slowly continued to write on her scroll; it was a report to give to the elders of the clan, and some of her kanji were wrong. Writing had never quite been her strong point, and she could feel his eyes burning into her back as she wrote, causing her to keep glancing back._

 _Izumi spoke careful, "I wish to go and see my sister. I have not seen her since..." She trails off as she thinks of the funeral, and her brush stops just above her hand. Memories of her father's death caused her to freeze, and ink dropped onto her kimono sleeve. A stinging pain in her sides causes her to snap out of her thoughts, and Hiroto is livid._

 _He swats her against with the cane; one; twice; twelve times until her side is red, and the servants look ready to jump inbetween their master and the wooden stick. Izumi keeps her face blank, while inside she is howling in pain and anger. "Ink stains are not acceptable." He hissed coldly, "Nor is childish behavior such as playing silly games outside." His Byakugan activated, but the new clan leader held his stare, the veins around her eyes slowly beginning to rise._

 _Izumi argued, "Should a child not be a child?" Defiance laced every fiber of her being, and she kept her tone formal, but there was a spark inside of her that willed this man to lose this battle of superiority._

 _However, she was just a child, and Izumi lost as the cane snapped her again, on her back this time. He rained down blows, until (with shaky hands) the clan leader picked up her brush to continue her work. The man made a noise of disgust._

 _"It is your duty to grow up early. You are no longer a child, Izumi. You have duties to attend to. All children grow up eventually; when does not matter."_

 _The twelve year old child- woman frowned, but nodded anyway._

...

The clouds were a prison for the hot sun, and it left a cool blanket on the world under it. The sound from the children laughing and the people chatting created a nice little harmony that made Izumi smile peacefully. Her mother had taken her to the park, and it was her firsr visit outside of the compound. Not too far off in the distance, she could see the Hokage Momument in all its glory, and Hashirama's looked down at what hw created in pride. This was what he had wanted; a place where children were free to do as they please with their lives. No women nor children were being sent to their graves early, and it was pleasing to Izumi.

She was wondering around the playground, blanantly ignoring those children around her, and simply enjoying the sights. Scattered around the park are huge oak trees that seemed to guard the people they shade, like shinobi standing tall all around. The clouds were breaking and small rays peeked through to give the people of Konoha a little warmth.

This new sunlight seems to change the color of everything, and Izumi is enthralled by it all, and she stands simply watching everything. The grass which was once a dark green has been lit up forest green, just as the trees which seemed dark at first, show off the yellows and reds of Autumn's beginning kiss. She could hear a bird chirp every so often.

It was going perfectly until someone tapped her shoulder and Izumi gracefully turned around, and a blush lit up at her cheeks. There stood a boy, two years older than her, and he was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. The sun beams lit up his yellow hair into royal gold, and his blue eyes were were like the crystal-clear ocean; she could not the bottom of those blue pool. He smiled politely, and held out a red, rubber ball to her.

"My name is Namikaze Minato. Would you like to play?" The five year old asked with a smile, and Izumi felt Inner Child beginning to bubble up inside of her, and she began stuttering.

"H-Hyuga Izumi." She introduced with a small bow, because formality is everything in proper society. The three year old girl did what any girl should do when they're a 22 year dead woman with an Inner Child is freaking out over a boy they just met, she turned around and sprinted back to her mother.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Almost 4 Years Old**_

"Zumi-chan, baby, are you not hungry?" Asuka asked worriedly, and Izumi sighed quietly. She shook her head, using her chopsticks to push around her rice, feeling the urge to vomit. She tried her best to take another bite; she hated to waste food, but it made bile burn in the back of her throat.

"May I be excused?" The little girl asked kindly, and Asuka nods slowly. She stands with a slow bow, before toddling towards her her room, which is upstairs, and while climbing the stairs in her condition is hard, yes, but worth it because she always feels victorious.

Eating feels wrong to her. Everytime she is offered a meal or snack, Izumi is forever engaged in a silent battle in her mind over whether or not to put that grain of rice, or piece of warm, bread into her mouth, and when she convinces herself to, it tastes like ash.

Everything in this life feels wrong, and while the body has never physically had to deal with starvation; her mind is forcing her to eat smaller portions.

 _If you eat too many rations then your clansmen-_

Her body does not reject the food, her mind is what makes her sick and is what causes her to want to vomit if she even tries to eat more than a quarter of what she is offered. And it is not just the larger amounts of rations that causes her distress, it is the blades and noises that could set her off in ways that Izumi had never imagined.

Loud, unexpected noises scare her to the point where she jumps into Jūken position, ready to strike and kill. It reminds of how paper bombs were hidden in the dirt, and would explode during enemy attacks. She cannot have anything fly towards her face, because she reacts as if it were a tanto or kunai.

Izumi is overwhelmed by this new world, and she can recongnize none of her village. Her village was shacks made of wood, large tents, and half-built dreams. Back then paper lanterns littered every street corner; these electrical lights are so new, and too modern for her liking. She can no longer go outside her clan home and recongnize where she is; the village is colors and faceless people that make no sense to her. Everything is wrong.

Izumi was a broken; so lost in her own hidden despondency that makes her feel almost dead. She will never be able see, feel, taste, or touch life the same way she had; living a second time is ruined by your first life.

She was alone with thoughts of what was now long forgotten, she was hidden a world no one remembers anymore. Izumi closes her eyes, and breathes in slowly.

"Noboru-kun!" A shrill woman's voice drifted through her vents, and it stopped Izumi in her tracks. She slides off her bed with ease, and moved across the room. She held her head against the metal, interesting filling her usually cold eyes.

"Ah! Rei-chan." She heard her father say. _Rei? Who was Rei?_

"Rei, it's so nice to see you again." Her mother's voice floated through the vents. The woman, Rei, chuckled loudly.

"Of course it is!" She chirped excitedly. "I came to see the wonder child. My Takuma-kun told me all about about little Izumi." Her voice lowered significantly to the point where she strained her ears to listen. "I heard how skilled she is in Jūken..."

"Hai." Asuka said with an undertone of pride in her voice. "She is quite skilled. I'm very proud of my little girl." She heard a waver in her voice, and heavy footsteps that belonged to Noboru. The wood creaked as someone sat down on the old chair that was made by Noboru's grandfather. It made Izumi smirk that she was older than the chair itself.

"Noboru-kun, we've been friends since the Academy. I know when you're nervous. Is she..." This new woman trailed off.

 _Academy? What is the Academy?_

There was a silence and Izumi added chakra towards her ears to enhance them to smaller noises.

Her father broke the silence. "It's worrying how quickly she picks things up. When she was a baby...she never cried, Rei. She never did. She flared her chakra if she needed anything. Asuka saw her performing kata that we never taught her. It's like she's the adult. She was performing chakra control that would put medics to shame."

Asuka inhaled sharply. "She's just a prodigy, Noboru." There was a noise that could only be described as someone slamming a cup down. "A natural born prodigy, such as Hiruzen-san's Orochimaru. Or...or that Uchiha boy. Fugaku? He's ten years old, and is a genin, almost a chunin."

Rei let out a low chuckle, "Calm down, Suka-chan. Izumi's simply gifted. All of you Hyugas are simply prodigies. She's just a little better. Is she awake? I wanna meet her."

 _All of you Hyugas..._ So Rei is not of the clan. Izumi found this information useful.

Noboru chuckled, "No. She went up to bed earlier. I don't believe she was feeling well."

"My beautiful spring..." Asuka murmured dreamily. They switched to different topics after that; topics ranging from kunai to former missions. There is laughter and cheers, prompting Izumi to return to her bed to think of what she had just heard. Gifted. Genius.

In her era, everyone was a prodigy of some sort. Each and every Hyuga, Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki were prodigies; yet to be called a genius meant you were absolutely brilliant. If you had heard of a Genius Child on a battlefield, you stayed away from them because of how powerful they must of been. Hashirama, the god of shinobi, was one of these "genius" children.

Izumi knew better than to play simply on title, no she must continue to show she is superior to the others to keep her title as a genius. The title is, in itself, a blessing in disguise. It is what makes her an individual; it makes her Hyuga Izumi, not just a up-coming shinobi.

She stared at her ceiling with mild interest. She did not sleep; not anymore. Izumi found that the mind (which needed sleep) ran on spirtual energy to fuel it. While most had a natural balance of spirtual and physical properties, Izumi did not. Her parents' spirtual energies were what got exhausted and then caused their physical energies to lower to exhaustion as well. Izumi had too much spirtual (or mental) energy to become tired, and spent her nights reading or meditating.

Izumi stared at the ceiling, imagining she could see the heavens. She prayed for Natsu to have found happiness where ever she is. Izumi will continue to live. For her.

...

The little girl looked at her cousin for a brief moment, scrutinizing every inch of the older girl. She was smiling, with a pretty round face and eggplant purple hair to match. The only difference between Izumi and Hiromi was simple, the older girl was a little taller.

Father nudged Izumi closer to her cousin, "Thank her for training with you." He said politely. Izumi bowed to her.

"Thank you, Onee-chan." She said politely, and despite her being mentally older, Izumi had accepted the girl as her sister. She had never had the chance to feel loved and protected by an older sibling. It felt quite nice, and everyone in the Hyuga Clan were family.

"Now, Hiromi, be gentle on your little cousin. She is still only learning the beginning kata. No chakra or Byakugan. Simple." Uncle said lightly. He was Father- when did she begin calling him Father? For so long her had been Noboru, and now...Had she grown to truly love him and Mother? Izumi believed she had, and accepted that. Father's brother was Uncle, and he was a kind-hearted man just like Noboru.

"Hai, Tousan." Hiromi replied quietly, giving Izumi a small smile. She began first, her open palm moving to strike against Hiromi's shoulder, only for the girl to avoid her, and go for a counterattack. Izumi swirved out of the way of the palm, instead she struck out offensively; she felt life being poured back into her with each strike. She dove at her cousin, and the poor girl barely had time to move.

Hiromi seemed perturbed about the quick pace, so Izumi slowed down. Her purple hair flowed around her like a silk scarf, and her hand struck Hiromi's sides, and then hit against the arms that were being used to block her attack. Hiromi was slow, too slow for Izumi to really fight. This wasn't even a warm up.

It was Izumi hitting the elder girl and nothing more. Perhaps Uncle would fight her...? She dove Hiromi, and the elder girl's palm blocked her two fingers that would go for her chakra point (she did not use chakra nor would she actually block it), and it slightly impressed her. Slightly.

Her thoughts gave Hiromi time to dive for an opening, and out of instinct, Izumi got upwards, and went to use one of her advanced moves. "Hakke-"

She stopped, as Natsu's broken form danced in her memories, and she rested her hand near her side, simply landing on the floor. Hiromi couldn't breath, sweat dripping down her young face. Izumi looked to Father and Uncle for guidance in this matter, and they quickly ended the spar.

"Izumi-chan, you did so well." Uncle complimented, but his face was tight. All adults that met her had tight faces. Father smiled mildly, and brushed a few strays strands from her face. Izumi scans his face for his thought, and finds it to be blank. Emotions were not rare for Noboru (she meant Father, but something felt off for a moment), and this was strange.

Perhaps the usage of her advance Jūken was too dangerous, but instinct had drove her to almost use it. She had forgetten how much like in the clan had changed. When sparring, those moves were not allowed, especially around children. Izumi had mixed feelings about the situation; was it making the Hyuga children weak or keeping them safe?

Hiromi smiled shyly at Izumi, "Would you like to go play in the garden?" She paused to stare at Uncle. The man grinned, and nodded his approval. Izumi looked to Father, who mirrored his brother's motions.

"Hai." Izumi answered, taking her hand into her own pudgy one. "Wanna play a tag?" She cringed internally at her own 'childish' talk, but she felt excited when Hiromi agreed.

She supposed it was okay to be a kid once in a while.

...

Hyuga Noboru loved his daughter very much, so much so that is hurt so much to even be a few minutes without the presence of the little girl.

That was to be expected, of course. He was a father, and he his role was protector very seriously. Izumi was his life just as much as Asuka was; it made him feel so very happy to have two beautiful things to protect.

When Noboru had imagined his life with a child, he expected all those mundane pleasures such as teaching her to play games or comfort her when she had a bad dream or a skinned knee. However, Kami-sama had other plans in mind for how his little girl would be born.

His Izumi was three years old (four in a few months), and she was still tiny, but she was anything but fragile. She stood tall and proud like a mighty oak tree, and Noboru was scared to see little muscles forming under those layers of a babyfat that she still possessed.

His daughter had long, long eggplant purple hair that spilled over her shoulders and he even saw a few white strands in the back of it. Where had the white come from? Neither side of her parents had such a feature? In fact, he couldn't see any of his or his beloved wife's features in the girl. She was beautiful, of course. But he couldn't spot any of his or Asuka's looks in her light, lilac eyes and delicate features, and besides her hair color, she could not have been their child.

For four months after her birth, she was a normal baby- well, considering she had been very sickly, mostly normal- however around four months, his baby changed. She'd grown healthy and the child had been too quiet as a baby, never crying. Her chakra would flare if she needed changed or got hungry, and even then she didn't truly want to eat anything.

At less than a year old, she was walking around and Noboru had cheered alongside his troubled wife at her achievement; both pretended not to notice her usage of chakra. Her first word had been "Kaa-chan", but she had been staring at him as if to acknowledge him and address her all at once.

It only got worse from there, where Asuka could tune it out, Noboru felt every shutter or twinge of chakra from his daughter during the night when she practiced. It worried him beyond belief. Initially, he and Asuka had tried to get her to socialize with other children her age, only to find Izumi to find them distasteful, and obediantly stay next to her mother as she read a book or two.

Her obsession with the bench in the garden was also concerning to him, considering almost 90% of her week was spent there. Often, she stayed out there with Oka just staring at the moon as if it held a secret story or memory that he could not quite figure out, and Noboru had learned quickly not to ask about these things because she would smile an innocent grin, " 'at you mean, daddy?" she would say cutely.

Of course, she took to Jūken like a fish to water, and Noboru felt like he was the one being taught instead of her. He and his brother were concerned about letting her spar with Hiromi after the incident where she almost used a technique that adults could barely use, and Noboru had not taught her. They two girls could be playmates and nothing more, if that.

Izumi had caught the attention of the Elders almost since birth. "She is the next Orochimaru," they whisper. "She will make a fine wife for Hiashi-sama or Hizashi. A good ninja."

Noboru would love her even if she turned out to be a civilian who wanted to marry a shoe-maker or farmer. His wife doted on the little girl, and Izumi was just as affectionate to a point. Often times, the girl had an apologetic look in her pale eyes, almost like she was sad that she was not normal. Noboru had a feeling she was 'dumbing' herself down for their sakes, and she was not honing up to her full potential.

She was a mystery to everyone, and his old teammate Rei had reported to him of several extremely talented children going missing, with their parents dead. She said it had something to do with Elder Danzo on the Konoha Council or something about ANBU, and she also warned him to be careful with showing her off to the clan or in public. Every move could be the wrong move, but of course his child knew that because she seemed to act like a proper toddler when anyone outside of her immediate family or Oka and Seishiro, came to speak to her.

If he summed up his daughter, she was brilliant, gifted, social awkward, and he would not replace her with anything else. Noboru Hyuga loved his little fountain, and would be damned if any ANBU or anything else tried to take her away.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Sorry about how short this chapter is, I have little time to spare to write. I am having personal problems and I have to attend lessons everyday. The next few chapters will be longer after everything is settled, and excuse any mistakes, this was hastily written. Please review with any good and bad parts of this story.**_

 _..._

 _"Hah!" Izumi's palm smashed against the tree with all the effort she could drive out of her tired bones, and to her satisfaction there was a large chakra burn in the base of the tree that cut all the way into core, and she is determined to break it in half the next time._

 _"Izumi-Hime," A meek voice called over a tray of what looks to be tea and bread (rations were a rarity in these times, those greedy Uchiha-), and she was shaking. It was her own personal maid, her name was Hisoka, and she was nothing special to the young girl._

 _Every single day during training, she would bring with her a snack, like a little kid would need. It made her feel tingly, and the first time she had tear up. No one had ever cared that much for her before, but then again Izumi is reminded of her duty as a heiress so it is just Hisoka's job._

 _The six year old wanted friends. She wanted someone to train with, to smile with, to care for her. She needed a friend, and the only one that she had once had was Natsu. Admittedly, she has a very difficult relationship with Natsu. It's not really her fault, or even Natsu's for that matter. It's stemmed from the fact that their father favored Izumi, and Natsu understood this very well. Yes, Natsu had improved in her Jūken, Izumi would admit that. However, while her sister has improved a lot, so had Izumi and she gotten even better than Natsu at the Hyuga clan's techniques. There is also an engagement hanging over their heads, which ever girl is weaker will not become Clan Head and be married off to an allied clan. Until their father decides which one of the two will survive in this era of darkness and follow in his footsteps, there will be a small war between the sisters that will never allow them to be friends._

 _"If you'll excuse me..." She set the tray down, and bowed. Izumi's hand shot out, wrapping around the elder girl's wrist, and Hisoka literally jumped, wide eyes staring down at her in shock._

 _"M-ma'am?"_

 _She looked intimidating like this, so Izumi loosed her shoulders and tried to smile like Natsu with all of those emotions, "You can share it with me!" Izumi exclaimed, demandingly. "You can be my best friend." She waited for Hisoka's responce with baited breath, hope swirling around inside of her. The elder girl looked horrified at the thought, and she wasn't even a Branch Member! What could Izumi possibly do to her?_

 _"Izumi-Hime...I...I mean..." The girl squaked like a chicken, and Izumi sneered at her, hissing out. "You may go," which was weak because of her young age. Hisoka scurried away as if she had been struck, and almost tripped over herself to get away. It was just her job, she did not want to be friends with a mostly cold and anti-social child heiress._

 _What had Izumi done wrong? Was she too demanding? Was she too harsh? Was her smile not working? Natsu's smile always got her friends?_

 _Izumi's pride swelled within her, replacing all hope, and she crushed the still-warm bread in her palms._

 _She did not need friends, she was brilliant on her own._

...

 _ **4 Years Old**_

Friends were, like most things in her life- lives - difficult to find. Izumi had been someone intimidating, and now she was someone abnormal. The Blessed Gods seemed to wish to punish her, and it caused her to frown deeply as she scanned the playground for a certain blond-headed boy.

He had been WILLING to play a game with her, and she would not have needed to ask. His name was...Minako? No, he wasn't female. Minato? That sounded correct, and she was determined to form a friendship with the child.

However that last memory unnerved her a bit, as friends had never been her strong point. But she is determined. It had taken Izumi to hear her mother cry to make her go find friends. Asuka was worried about her development, and the thought of her child being alone had brought her to tears so Izumi did what was right and demanded to go play at the park after training. How far would she go to please a member of her beloved clan? Quite far, as she was standing here trying to find the boy that she would become friends with.

And what in Kami's name was she wearing? Her outfit consisted of a dark blue v-neck shirt with mesh armour underneath; blue pants that reached down to her thighs and plain dark purple genin sandals. This was a standard outfit for her clan and Izuni was horrified! How would this teach children to fight in tradition robes?

Did they even use kimono in battle anymore? Izumi was silently cursing who ever did this to the clan. She was wondering around trying to find Minato, where ever he was, and hoped that she would find him quickly

Her mother was nearby, casually chatting with Rei (whom was of the Yamanaka Clan), and was the gossip of the town. If anyone even sneezed, Rei knew about almost four minutes BEFORE it happened. She was fond of Izumi, and visa versa. They had a mutual respect of each other. Although Izumi was quite sure the blond woman was slightly terrified of her, as Rei tried to squish her in a hug upon their first meeting, and Izumi had a flashback to her former past. She is not quite sure what that is called, but her body froze and she lashed out. It had taken only 10 seconds to calm herself, but those were the worst seconds of her entire life.

Slowly, her eyes shut only to reopen with arteries and veins from around her eyes protruding, and the rest of the world consisting only of chakra networks and chakra points. Besides that one blind spot, she was allowed to see all the way around here for meters, and was searching for a familiar boy, only to feel a chakra that was too abnormal for her likings, and it caused her to pause for a moment. She turned towards a tree, to find a man leaning against it, seemingly bored.

Her Byakugan showed him to have above average chakra coils, and it was a simple aura around him that caused her to hesitate in her step.

He was pale -too pale and reminded Izumi of the wicked Omi that were often told to disobediant that refused to sleep at night- with purple eyeshadow, and ominious golden eyes. Her body froze, and she slowly shifted into Jūken stance at the dark-haired man, who seemed to notice her at that point. He gave her a polite smile, however it hid a secret message under it, like a threat that she did not understand. Who was the mysterious man that reminded her of a Snake Omi?

"Izumi!" Asuka's call broke Izumi from her trance, and the Snake Man moved away from her, disappearing into the trees, but not from her vision. "We're going home!"

Kuso! Izumi hadn't had a chance to find and befriend Minato. This trip had been a failure Yet, it did not disappoint her as much as it should have; Izumi was feeling somewhat victorious. She had seen that strange man, and despite the chill she felt, she had stood her ground against him. Izumi had known several terrible men in her time, and that Snake Man reminded her of them. How strange...

She had an ominious feeling he was up to no good, and if he dared come close to her or Hiromi, Izumi absolutely no quarms about striking him dead.

...

Hiromi's palms slammed against the wood of the dummy set up in the dojo for her with all her might, and still it had not broken. Izumi watched her carefully from her seat at the side of the large room, frowning as she watched. "More chakra, Onee-chan. You'll never cause any damage if you got at it like that." It came out too harsh, too demanding, but still it got it's desired effect. Hiromi's hands burned with all the chakra her six year old body could bear to use, and she attacked the dummy with renewed vigor, aiming to destroy it. For someone so kind, she was quite vicious when it came to training, and Uncle was very encouraging towards her, as was Father.

Kazou Hyuga had been to put it simply (and Izumi herself winced at the language) a bastard on all accounts towards his daughter. Izumi grew up with harsh words and disappointed eyes that pushed her to try harder, but almost more often than not, the only served to make her feel like a failure. More times than Izumi could remember she had made the choice to not allow herself to just get killed on a battlefield by a Senju or Uchiha. If Izumi didn't feel like she was a genius, and her father constantly disgraced her, what was the point. Izumi likes to believe only two things kept her motivated. It was Natsu's firm, quiet, and unrelenting belief in her and her abilities that used to keep her motivated, and her own internal denianal of failure.

Father was different in ways that made the woman-child smile brightly. He and Uncle were never demanding nor did they deem either girl 'useless' or 'soon to die' for anything they could not do (mostly it was Hiromi as Izumi knew everything), and Uncle often said, "Let's try it again. It's okay to fail a few times."

Izumi wondered if that philosphy made the Hyuga children weak or strong, and she chose only to nod alongside them and do her best to encourage Hiromi alongside them. She enjoyed how nice everyone was, and how no one ever was disrespectful towards you, and how everyone was valued. Perhaps joining Hyuga with Konohagakure was the best thing that Izumi had ever chosen to do in her past life, and she had done well. The serenity of the village seemd to rub off on the Hyuga, and the steel grip was slowly loosed over the decades. Izumi didn't agree with the laws placed upon the Branch Members, but she could do little to fix the situation, so she kept herself on the positive matters.

"Gah!" The six year old smashed her hand against the dummy again, and while it did not break completely, a large crack echoed in the small space. There was a decent sized indention in the poorly cut wood, and the little girl was breathing heavily with a proud smile. "I almost did it, Zumi-chan." Hiromi announced proudly. Izumi was forced to bite back harsh words of her past.

'Almost isn't good enough!'

"Very good, Onee-chan."

Hiromi tossed herself neatly down next to her cousin, and Izumi secretly checked her 'older sister' for any chakra-induced burns on her palms or arms. "Is there reason you've been training so hard, sister?" Izumi asked innocently, but inside she wished to know all of these details. Old bruises and cuts were fading from training sessions that Izumi had not attended.

"Hai." The girl said meekly. "I wish to be strong for the Academy."

"Academy?" Izumi echoed, thinking back to what Rei had said about it. She had never figured out what it was. Hiromi nodded quickly.

"Ano, it's school to learn how to be proper ninja." She avowed. "All clan kids and civilians go together, but some decide to go off and be civilians still." Hiromi laid down, unaware of how her words affected the elder/younger girl.

How...How could anyone want NOBLE-BLOODED CLAN CHILDREN with orphans and civilians? Her hands tightened in her lap. What good were normal farmer or tailor's children? They had no kekkai genkai or clan jutsu?

How could Hashirama allow this? Did he know about this before his death? Being on the same squad was one thing, but to learn together? Izumi didn't believe she liked it.

"How old do you have to be to get in?"

"Six."

Kuso!

"Unless you are a prodigy like you, sister. Here are the admission rules:

1\. Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity.

2\. Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work.

3\. Be healthy in mind and body." Her cousin explained matter-of-factly like it was a big secret. Izumi was quite sure that she did NOT want to allow Hiromi to be in a class with other clan kids and civilians alone. If joining the Academy is what it took to protect one of her beloved clansmen, then so be it.

Besides, Izumi still felt the need to protect this village because she owed Father and Mother (Noboru and Asuka really took over her heart, despite her age) for raising and protecting her, even if they did not know it.

She wanted to protect Konohagakure no Sato.


	7. Chapter 7

_**4 Years Old**_

"You had NO right to sign that form, Noboru!"

Izumi flinched at the harsh words that came from her mother, but kept her back pressed against the wall as she eavesdropped on what was going on. They had been at it since Father had made the announcement, and Izumi had been calmly told to leave the room.

Of course, that was when the fighting began and Izumi knew if anything physical began, she would interrupt. Her cousin's mother and father were known to argue, and as clan leader she had stepped in once or twice to stop him from hitting her aunt again. She highly doubted Father even knew how to raise his hand against his wife; no Izumi could see he loved her and would never dream of hitting her.

Mother seemed hysterical. "I don't approve, Noboru! She is just a baby still, and I will not have her sent to her death this early. Besides, why even allow her to become a ninja? It's a man's job to protect a woman." Her mother's voice gradually began to raise and it became as sharp as any kunai. Izumi could almost feel the daggers being burned into Father by her mother

"You can't stop her, Asuka-koi. She's not a baby, she's not even a child." He lowered his voice significantly. "She's a...a genius. Doesn't she deserve a chance to show her potential?" Father shot back at her. "Or do you feel locking her away is best?"

There was silence, "I find it strange, KOI, that you were so assuring that you would never force your child to become a ninja the way your father did to you." Mother's voice was fercious; Izumi imagined it was the same as when a she-bear wished to protect her cubs.

"That's different; my father forced me to become a ninja in the middle of a war! He chose a life for me that I did not want, but she wants this life. Izumi wants to go to the Academy with Hiromi-chan!" Father's hand slammed down against something, and Izumi pressed herself again the wall futher to get a better hearing of what was going on.

Father let out a deep sigh, and Mother began her fight again. "Do you want her to turn out like Hanako's son? He went insane after he graduated at five. He was ten when he went rogue and the ANBU killed him. Did you know I saw Orochimaru watching her at the park? I don't feel right about this..." Mother trailed off, and Izumi paused.

 _Orochimaru? Was he Snake Omi?_

"Orochimaru is Hokage-sama's student and a highly regarded shinobi of this village." Father stated firmly, "Perhaps he sees her talent as you should." Mother makes a displeased noised, and that signalled the end of the arguement.

Izumi frowned; did she deserve to feel guilt for this fight? It was not like she wanted them to argue, but it was her choice. She was glad Father supported her, however Mother was upset with her choice. It had caused her great distress to find herself so attatched to those two fake parents or were they real parents?

She pondered this as she climbed the stairs to go to her living space or more casually known as her room, and Izumi thought about it briefly. Yes, Mother had carried her in her womb, that was a given. However, why did Izumi look the same as she did once before? She had her normal round face, purple hair, and large eyes; none of these traits matched Mother or Father. There was something off about this situation, and the white in her hair was concerning.

She had (even when she was sickly) never had white hair and now it came in long strands down her back. Izumi felt like herself; she was Izumi Hyuga on all accounts, yet she was not. She was the same woman she used to be, and it terrified her to the core. At first it had been subtle changes; the streaks of white hair; a small scar running down her forehead; her chakra nature shifting. Yet, Izumi could tell something had changed and had little knowledge on what had.

On several occasions she felt that perhaps, it was simply because of easily she was swept into the past. Perhaps nothing was wrong, it was all because of her new life. However, Izumi was not quite convinced of this.

She would admit that YES, she did have some mental problems dealing with past trauma alongside this new revelation of her life. It was a long-standing difficulty that was hard on her; Izumi could barely get out of her futon some days, yet it was not the problem. Something about her felt wrong, and even more so when she caught sight of the moon.

Her entire body was just off, and she could not put her finger on it. It was like only two things made her feel alive; sparring and sitting on her bench, simply watching the moon.

The former clan leader had prayed to the Goddess Amaterasu for guidance (she was disgusted to find how much religion changed. Kuso-!), but the feeling deep inside her heart would not be parted with.

...

If Izumi had not known any better, she would have assumed that everything in her household was absolutely fine, and Mother did her best to portray the happiness in her child becoming a kunoichi.

It had taken some convincing for Izumi to accompany her dear mother to go shopping for proper attire as she began attending the Academy, and here she stood standing in front of a building that seemed to blend into the area around it. It was insignficant; a place that no avid shopper would glance at twice unless they saw the truth behind it. Hidden under a Genjutsu, was a larger shop that was solely for shinobi. It had taken Izumi less than ten seconds to notice the illusion, and Mother had smiled at her when she realized it.

Izumi assumed the Genjutsu was so only ninja could see the shop. The village did not need untrained civilians wielding kunai and swords, and honestly it was best to have genin that could see through illusions to retrieve their needed supplies.

Her body reacted into goosebumps as the sterile air blasted against bare arms, as she and her mother ambled into the building. Izumi looked around; her pale eyes analyzed each detail of the large shopping center around her (how spoiled this new generation is; her period would never had been so lucky as to have so many fabrics and supplies), and she has to find it well-pieced together, with a professional touch.

The scene before her was a swirl of darker colors and bright lights-the signboards which told you what was where was written in crisp, neatly printed red kanji-contrasting with the dark, black-and-grey stained walls and fine, eggshell marble flooring.

There was quite the selection of clothes, weapons and equipment, and if only Izumi had had access to it all during the Warring Era; what a difference it would have made.

Her mother had taken them quickly towards the childrens' clothing and Izumi wished to laugh bitterly at the irony of it all. She had joined her clan with the Hyuga to protect the children of tomorrow and yet here lies a huge selection for child-ninja. How sad, Izumi mourned. So early to their deaths.

Children hardly survived in her days, and to become ten was an almost legendary age. It was often that Izumi stood next to Kazou as he acknowledged the fallen clansmen, wnd she would have liked to say not many of the dead were chilldren; she would have liked to, but that was not the case at hand.

"Is there anything that wish to see?" Mother inquired. Her hands were wrapped around a piece of pink cloth (Kami, were they trying to kill children), and she had an affection smile lacing her lips as she stared at it. Izumi's exterior softened, and she looked at the kimono that her mother held; it was hideous on all accounts.

"I want something pink, Kaa-chan." Izumi chirped, (oh how she cringed internally at those bitter words), and Mother looked ready to cry at that. She immediately took into the clothing piles to retrieve what she thought you look best on the little girl, while Izumi looked on with little interest.

"How about this, sweetie?" Excited, Mother waved a piece of bright pink frills around, beaming. Why did they even create such nonsense, Izumi fumed. She made a face as Mother replaced the frills with a qipao dress, and she frowned.

This was one of those things; Izumi couldn't breath. Mother turns away to browse with the dress swinging on her arm; she is unaware of how much she is affecting her child. The entire battlefield was suffocating. Tremors racked tense bones, and the ringing of swords rang out with a bitter music. Unshed tears burned her eyes, and she prepared to fight.

Why didn't Mother see the enemies surronding them? Was she just standing as if their clan was not being slaughter around them? Dear God...Kazou is getting sliced to pieces. Those damn Kumiko are swinging their swords, and those qipao dress that the women ninja are wearing, and- please Natsu don't be dead !

Warm, metallic liquid drips off of her face, where is Natsu? Is she okay? Is she seeing what is happening to Kazou? She's so young...

Through all the panic and fear, Izumi mentally berated herself. She knew that she was not in the middle of a battlefield, and her former father was not getting sliced to pieces. This was no way for a ninja to act; about to cry over a non-existent threat like a toddler. Izumi was a highly trained kunoichi who had once led a clan, and had seen more than one young woman should in one (or two) lifetimes.

"Izumi?"

 _'Izumi-Hime, we are out numbered-' A kunai shot through the Hyuga's throat, and a kunoichi in her deep red stained qipao dressed did it..._

 _I'm not there anymore. Don't let it control me. Let go of the past!_

Izumi smiled, "I like the color, but I want a kimono." Izumi batted her eyes and gave her mother a pleading stare. Mother nodded, concern twinkling in her eyes, but she did not question the reason her child had frozen up.

Izumi looked around for a moment, before she slowly gained a grin that was too wide for her usual tastes. Her finger pointed to the side.

"That one."


	8. Chapter 8

_**4 Years Old**_

Izumi was in all terms and meanings, pissed off at the turn of events that proceeded her on the hour of her first day of the Academy. Hiromi was quite ready to break, her body shaking as they walked and she nervously fluttered her sleeves as she walked. Hiromi looked lovely; why would she be so scared? Her cousin had her purple locks tied to the top of her head, and she left two pieces framing each side of her face with her pale, unmarked forehead clearly shown.

Izumi smiled, because she looked exactly like Hiromi did. Her hair was braided down her back with her bangs framing her face (it amazed Izumi how she and her cousin both adopted her former hairstyles), and she was wearing a kimono.

It was purple, and almost an exactly like the ones she had donned in her later years. She looked like a mini version of her 22 year old self, from her shoes to her hair. Hiromi had herself adopted a plain v-neck shirt like the ones they wore in training alongside a mesh undershirt, and plain dark shorts. The Hyuga clan symbol is etched into her cousin's shirt on the right next to the collar.

Izumi had demanded she have the symbol sewn into the back of her kimono (her inner clan leader shrieked with pride), and she knew that there would be other clan children there. It did not hurt for her to show her clan off, and Izumi was too prideful not to let everyone one know exactly who she was (the pupil-less eyes may have shown that already), but she was ready to face the day with Hyuga Confidence.

How wrong she had been!

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she arrived at the playground in the courtyard of the Academy (Uncle had left them there and told them to go inside when the bell rang), and immediately her mind shut down. Hiromi had gotten Izumi's permission to go see her friend Uchiha Mikoto (the girl made friends at the public park, unlike Izumi), and the girl with the braid was at a loss as she stared at everything around her.

Around whirled memories that should have been long forgotten, and she had known there would be clan children however-

All sense of time and era stops: past and present exist as a single overwhelming force that Izumi can not escape from, and she is forced to stare at everyone with terrified eyes. Past and future are happening simultaneously, and that is a terrifying thing to see. She can see those children, but at the same time she sees who their ancestors are. She was subsumed in memories as years and years of battling these clans for survival attacked her mind. It was like seeing double images all at once, and it was overwhelming; she was buried in the weight of simultaneous events.

At one moment she saw a little Nara boy, but at another she could see the shadows coming to attack her and her male-cousin, and she needs to kill-

 _Stop!_ She shrieked in her mind. _I'm not there. I'm not there. I'm not THERE!_

This is not the first time this has happened. There were times when Izumi felt as if he were being literally torn in two; times when she raged at the injustice of what had happened to her now and then; times when he was overwhelmed with guilt that left her seeing the dead in everyone she saw. There was rarely past and present, and the clear-cut line that had seperated them in her mind was so often triggered, it was now blurred as if someone had taken her mind and tried to force it together in their palms.

Ghost kunai came flying towards her and yet she could not move to stop them. The sharpened steel came closer and closer; perhaps it was real and would kill her. In any case, it would be a fine end to this torment.

Yes, just a little closer and kunai would impale her-

A tanned hand shot out, and Izumi visablely jumped as she made a small choking noise, and turned to see familiar cerulean blue eyes were staring at her curiously, and she eyed him tenderly for a few moments.

"Kaa-chan," He stated in a too-high, childish voice. "said to never, ever let ladies cry," It was then that Izumi realized that tears were threatning to fall, and to any bystander it seemed she was a simply distraught and scared little girl too far from home.

"It's scary." Minato admitted quietly, "But it'll be okay." He added quickly, and he watched Izumi's face like a hawk for her reaction, even going so far as so take her hand in his own.

Izumi was touched- how could she not be when this boy cared so much for strangers- so she decided to humor the kind-hearted boy, and beamed at him. She wiped her eyes, and pulled the elder (or younger if her ripe age of around 84 had any say in it) boy into a hug that lasted less than 5 seconds.

The bell rang out, and she did not stop him from leading her inside the building, quietly talking about what his Kaa-chan told him.

...

Izumi was less than impressed by the state of the classroom; how horribly mundane it was and she would never have allowed her clan to be taught in such a poorly-lacking facility. If it were up to her, the entire building itself would be made of fine marble (protecting the daimyo of the Fire Country would be worth it), and had dojos for proper training. Learning is best when in the proper environment, not in a stuffy classroom where you simply read about topic after topic.

She stood her ground against all of the taller children as she shoved her way through the crowds of kids that threatened to keep her from the seat that she wished to possess as her own. A blackboard and podium stood at the front of the class and the students' seats were lined up to tier downwards towards that area. A desk stood off the to the side away from the childrens' and she assumed it was for their educator as he planned his lessons. She had taken a seat in the back of the room, and Hiromi had followed obediantly like a lost puppy. Her Uchiha friend had strayed off to one of her fellow clansmen as well, and Minato had followed after her with little prompting.

The three sat on the same row, and there was room for more students, however no one dared get near the youngest child in the room. She rebuffed attempts at small talk with glares and occasionally she would simply give them a look. Those on the receiving end of the look seemed to pale and scurry off rather quickly, away from the four year old whose gaze was tearing them apart cell by cell then piecing them back together.

Of course, Minato was too quiet to speak up any discomfort if he minded that she didn't let anyone sit at an ENTIRE row besides them three, and Hiromi was too nervous to care if she did or did not force them to leave.

Izumi herself was having her own problems as she was the youngest, and despite her advanced height for her age, she was still the shortest person in the room, and these desks for made for people taller than she was, forcing her to swallow her pride and sit on her knees to give herself some height to see the front of the room. It seemed quite idiotic, and Izumi deemed she would have to find an easier method for this rather than sit with her entire body on the table and her knees tucked under her.

Minato nudged her, "Who do you think our sensei is?" He wondered aloud, and Izumi paused as her heart swelled with more arrogant pride at her knowledge compared to his, and she smiled up at him.

"That's easy, Minato." She replied, "Satoko Mitsuwa, she's a kunoichi of our village. I hear she's a retired jonin who decided to become a Academy teacher." Izumi almost felt back for him. Almost.

He was a civilian and as such, he did not have all the connections that she and Hiromi did, such ws excusive lists of teachers, students, and whatever else would be in the course standardd of the class. Asuka Hyuga was a very fierce woman when it came to Izumi, and she HAD to know every detail of her Academy life before school even started. Mother had no quarms with pulling some of the strings she had to get what she wanted, and as an ex-ANBU that meant she simply asked the Hokage, who would deny her nothing after all these years of service. Father may have mentioned some threatning on Mother's part too, and she pretended not to hear that.

It took several minutes before the door was slammed open, and in rushed a kunoichi. She sneered, "Alright, maggots. I want everyone seated and quiet." In fear, nobody quite moved and annoyanced laced her face. "NOW!"

Everyone who hadn't been seated began to scurry around like ants, and they were tripping over each other to get to seats (still careful to avoid the glaring Hyuga), and when everyone was seated, the woman marched forward to the podium, and snapped a large wooden stick against the oak.

If this was their teacher, she was not what Izumi had expected all. Mother had whined about their teacher, claiming she was too old and too mean to teach her precious child. But, by all standards, the woman in front of her did not look old. She was around 23 to 25, with delicate features that made her tough exterior seem quite useless.

She wore the standard jonin outfit, with the vest undone so you could see the top of her bosom, and her navy blue pants were replaced by a long skirt that reached her knees, alongside her forehead protector is wrapped around her waist. Her long, long strangely colored light blue hair was loose around her thighs, and her piercing black eyes were examing each of her students with little interest.

"All right you maggots my name is Satoko Mitsuwa; I will be your instructor." The woman announced, setting down a knife onto the podium in a clear threat and Izumi wished to smile at how sad it was. She had seen worse threats from children in her day. "From here on out you will address me as Satoko-sensei, is that understood?"

"Hai," the students chorused, while Izumi simply tried to meet the teacher's eyes, but the woman was preoccupied at being hateful.

The woman raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing in a way that spoke to the children.

"Hai, Satoko-sensei!" They corrected themselves.

Satoko-sensei gave a tight nod of approval before turning towards the large black board that ran along the wall at the very front of the room (Izumi cannot remember a time where she had seen one so large), and she picked up a piece of chalk and began to jolt down the names of the children in the classroom.

"If you recall, this Academy has been around longer than you have, and as such it knows more than you. I expect absolute obediance, understood? We know what we're doing a hell of a lot better than you do. There...will be extreme consquences to your actions."

Izumi raised an eyebrow, and held onto every word, carefully examing the body language of her teacher. She was tense, and it must have been her first year teaching by the way it seemed that she was hesitating when writing on the board. A haughty look slides onto her face at her sensei's words.

 _No, I believe I have been around longer than this Academy_. She thought with a pleased smirk pasted onto her face, and beside her Hiromi seemed to slink into her seat.

It was then that she turned to Minato (had she already forgotten about him?), and to her surprise he was not fearful like the rest of the class. Minato sitting with his back straight, eyes forward and unwavering like his entire life was leading up to this, and it caused Izumi whip-lash as she stared at him for a few moments.

It was that look that she would remember for the rest of her life because it was the look of a certain shy girl, one that was terrifyingly familiar and one that made Izumi not want to breath.

Where had she seen it? The 84 year old racked her brain for where she had seen this look, and it hit her as hard as a Jūken to the sternum.

 _"Natsu," The elder girl scolded. "If you keep this up, you'll eventually get yourself killed." The blue-haired child's eyes sunk to the floor._

 _"Hai."_

 _"You realize that you must be strong to survive?"_

 _"Hai, sister." The younger girl flinched as Izumi carelessly pressed her fingers onto the wound, and when she cried out, the elder girl sneered in distaste._

 _"Shinobi don't flinch or cry," scolded Izumi. "It's a sign of weakness. You are lucky Father is not here to beat that into you."_

 _Internally, Izumi cried out herself in displeasure. Perhaps, she was too socially inept towards her sister, but that was no reason to be mean. Or was she being mean? She was simply making her sister tougher, right?_

 _She wanted to be a good sister and reach out to the girl, but she was so scared of failure. Failure wrong. Failure meant you are worthless. Natsu has failed..._

 _"Injuries on the battlefield mean you have a breach in your defense. It means you have failed. Father hates failure. If you continue to shame him, he will throw you in with the Branch Family. You might as well quit now and become a healer or something, sister." That last word is hissed out, and she expects the shy girl to cave in on herself, but instead her back straightens despite the pain from her lacarations._

 _Her eyes are no longer meekly on the floor, and she shrugs away her sister's hands. She stares unwavering at the armor resting against the tatami mats. "No." Her voice is as sharp as any kunai, and her voice as strong as a typhoon. "I will continue being a shinobi."_

 _Those eyes left Izumi haunted._

She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat as she examined Minato now. He was kind from what she determined, and he had those same gestures like her sister Natsu. He seemed a little (and she cringed at the lax of the word itself) girly to her. She had only seen him twice, but...but...

Could he be Natsu? Or was she imagining things? Izumi remembers times from her childhood where she had wanted something so much where she began to believe it to be true. It was also done with grieving family members who didn't want to accepted death.

Or was it something else entirely? It was just a look that people have. Izumi was anti-social enough to have only seen a few looks, and perhaps it was her limited human interaction was the cause.

 _But still..._

Satako-sensei began to slow in her project, taking a deep breath as she finished writing. With cold eyes, she examined her students and made a displeased noise. She set down the chalk. "Because so many of you are from clans, I need a good idea of where we are in the art of fighting. So today, we are going to be starting off with your very first spars as students."

A collective groan arose from the students, even the clan kids. Hiromi looked displeased at the turn of events and shame weld up in Izumi's chest that. Hiromi, she had thought better of, yet she managed to disappoint her with her whinings.

Glaring, Satako-sensei hissed. "Stop your whining brats! If you can not handle this then you might as well walk out that door right now and even forget wanting to be a shinobi." The wooden stick snaps against the wood again, and one Inuzuka girl who sits closest to the podium looks ready to burst into tears at any moment.

The class quieted; nobody dared complain over the fighting again, and Izumi is mildly impressed.

Satako-sensei seemed pleased at the silence, and she was quite pretty with that over-confident smile that was most likely supposed to be a sneer. "I've written all your names down here," the woman intoned, her dark-red finger nails tapping against the board next to the white kanji. "The name next to yours is who you are going to be sparring against today as well as your partner for the year, meaning they are your sparring partner, your study partner, and anything else I fucking tell you to do in pairs. I'm not going to be repeating them when we get outside, nor if you forget so learn it now, maggots."

Izumi winced delicately at the foul word, and a proper lady would never say such a thing. It was especially ill-mannered in front of impressionable children. Izumi had only used the word fuck on one or two occasions, and only when she really, really had to use the word.

She frowned deeply, looking too serious for a four year old body, and she searched the board first for Hiromi's name, because she knew she could handle herself against anyone.

She found her cousin's name on the board paired with Mebuki Haruno, and she had seen the orange-haired girl early. She was weak looking, and Izumi could feel how poor her chakra coils were, so she was absolutely fine with this pairing.

Next she searched for Minato's name, because she already felt a urge of protectiveness for the boy that she had never quite felt before to anyone outside of her family. Maybe it was because there was a chance he was the reincarnation of Natsu, or perhaps just because he already seemed to be 'friends' with her. Izumi had to protect him too. She found his name and trailed her eyes to the next row.

 **[** **波風ミナト** **] - [** **日向泉** **]**

Minato Namikaze and Izumi Hyuga...

 _Fuck._


	9. Chapter 9

Hiromi knocked Mebuki right out, nothing could have prepared the orange-haired girl for the precisely aimed attacks aimed directly at her. Hiromi had improved since the last time that they had sparred (Izumi was no longer allowed any training with the girl in fear that she might use an advanced technique), and it made her smile...just a little.

Futhermore from the Academy, the view of the Hokage Monument stood tall and proud. It was a symbol of strength for Konohagakure's future generations since it held the faces of those who loved this village until their deaths. The blank spaces also symbolized for all the generations that one day you could be on there; a symbol of strength and protection.

The third face was of Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Izumi smiled as she remembered Sasuke Sarutobi (she had never met him on a battlefield, but had met him when peace negotiations were being spoken), and was okay with him being her leader.

If Tobirama had hand-picked this man to be his successor, then what business did Izumi have to question that wise Senju? Tobirama was too calculating, but he loved this village, and Izumi accepted that.

Her hand went to touch her chest and and a familiar feeling sank into her heart, and she recognized pride that had bloomed within her that day. Her past life as clan leader may have left her with a want to protect her clan, but it was that monument that made her want to protect this village. She wasn't that Izumi anymore, and she needed to be the one that this Academy will make her to be.

She had too much pride, so much that it made her arrogant and haughty. Izumi could no longer afford to be like that. She needed to let go of the past, but that hurt more than anyone would ever know.

Apparently, Izumi wasn't aware how long she had been thinking, when a soft shake jolted her back to reality.

"Izumi Hyuga and Minako Namikaze-"

"His name is Minato!" She burst out suddenly, and her eyes were narrowed in anger as she marched towards her sensei, with Minato on her tail.

"Yes, MINATO Namikaze and Izumi Hyuga." the teacher corrected with a roll of her eyes.

She imagined she didn't look like much as she marched into the circle made by her fellow classmates. She was too tiny, too young-looking, with a blend of purple and white hair like some kind of weird candy, and pupil-less eyes. And a kimono, which no one else was wearing. Izumi imagined she looked like a little, foreign princess trying to play ninja.

"Good luck, Nato-kun!" Izumi exclaimed (she felt out of character from her past life, but she was letting it go), and she held out a hand to him. The startled blond haired boy took her hand and wished her the same luck.

Satako-sensei interjected with a sigh before two new friends could start exclaiming weaknesses and braid each other's hair or what the hell ever they planned on doing, which caused the purple-haired girl to glare. "You two know the rules: taijutsu only. Don't hold back because you are friends." She gestured for them to take their positions. Izumi leaped backwards to be away from Minato to an opposite side.

 _I'll hold back,_ Izumi thought immediately.

"Begin!"

Neither child moved, and the younger of the two was in Jūken stance, considering what to do with the fact Minato would not move. She shot the boy a reassuring smile, and he charged at the girl, aiming a punch towards her face. Izumi dropped to the ground in a crouch when she dodged, shock overrriding her featured at how he managed to go so quickly.

 _He's so fast!_ Izumi thought as she leapt backwards to avoid the sweeping leg; her entire body going into a backflip to avoid him all together. He was too fast, and instictively her Byakugan activated to watch him as he jumped behind her, and her palm shot out to attack his chakra pathway.

He moves, and her hand meets air. She's still going easy, but she is impressed. Izumi had never expected him to be this good, even without any formal training, and perhaps she misjudged him in the beginning.

Izumi was certainly up against a genius; a once in a generation one at that. She had never really believed in civilian ninja, but she could already see the infamous ninja he would grow into if he tried hard enough. Izumi had been training frequently to try and get her body to what it had been in her previous life, practicing to get this body the way it once had been. However, this body was too small to for all the large ambitions that she wanted.

Her spiritual energy had never been so poweful as she learned and developed; it caused a rift in her physical energy that resided in her child body. She practiced with all she had when she was not meditating, to keep a strong balance between her two energies, but it made things harder. She was advanced for a child, but it left her slower than before and her body did not move the way she had been able to. This spar might prove difficult, but now Izumi was determined to win.

Izumi's leg struck out at the boy's leg, and he cried out at the pain, prompting the purple-haired girl attempted to side-kick her Minato's head. The older boy leaned back, her leg passing his head by mere inches, and she twisted her body enough to jab him in the stomach.

Jūken would not work in this situation without chakra (and she's not allowed to use it in a spar; curse this body!), and Izumi had fought with regular Taijutsu before in the wars. He then tried to punch her, but the girl simply moved to the side, kicking him in the side, but he recovered from the blow easily. Izumi WOULD NOT lose. She was better than this. She ran at him as quickly as this body would allow her to, and he jumped away. _Kuso !_

The fight went on for several minutes, both of the two children were fast on their feet; they blocked and countered each other like they were dancing. It was beginning to appear as if there would be no winner, when Izumi finally got a chance to win this match. She saw an opening in his chest, and he wouldn't see her coming.

Her open palm flew out to attack his sternum when shocking pain blew up on her face, and white dots flickered in her eyes as she was sent flying backwards in a complete stupor.

His fist was still out-stretched when she managed to look to the side, but her back was against the ground and her body ached with sore muscles. The crowd quieted down as Minato was called winner, and an overwhelming rage filled Izumi.

She had never lost! Not against her past father, or Natsu, or Hiromi, or that fact she lived to 22 means she didn't fucking lose to any enemies.

How did she lose to a six-year old boy? How?

She was- was...happy? It was the strangest feeling to be happy and mad about losing, but it was the first time she ever lost a fight and it made her happy because past Izumi hated failure. Losing was failure. No one was trying to kill her and the Gods did not strike her down for losing. It was like all of that arrogance and weight she carried was falling off of her.

She was perfectly imperfect and no one cared. Minato gives her a smile, and apologized for hitting her and she smiled back and shook her head because it was okay.

He helped her up, and the smile never left her lips because it was the first time the bird that was her soul left its cage. She was happy to fail.

...

She was pissed two hours later when she realized he gave her a giant black eye.

...

Izumi is sitting on the couch doing homework when she decides the education system of Konoha is not the best nor is it anything to be proud of, and she sorely despises it to the point that she almost wants to not do it in defiance.

How did anyone think you could learn battle skills by simply learning to do it on paper? Most of the questions ranged from different degress of idiocy that had Izumi concerned over the well fair of the ninja that Konoha produced.

The first few on her homework assignment is cryptographyis, which is basically useless. Number 7 and Number 14 involve figuring out the trajectory of a shuriken you have thrown, as well as predicting the furthest possible range of said shuriken and describing how that conclusion was reached.

How in Kami's name would that help her in anyway in the midst of battle? Izumi could verbally tell you a conclusion if she was given shuriken and a target, then tested all the ways she could throw it to achieve the target. Not only would she gain knowledge such as quick thinking, but also experience in real world situations.

The next isn't as bad as the rest. It involves a topographical map including a mountain, and a list of where enemies are positioned and asks how to get through in a safe way. Now, Izumi could understand that planning was a useful skill, but the simple fact that she could do it better in a simulation was nagging at her mind.

Mother walked out with what seemed to be a bento wrapped in cloth in her hands. She looked outside the window to the position of the sun, then turned to her daughter. "Sweetie, do you think you can take this to Auntie Rei?" she asked with a big smile, running her free hand through her child's affectionately.

"Hai, Kaa-chan!" The younger girl nodded vigoriously, and Izumi was glad for an excuse to take a break from this Kami-damnable (please o'gods forgive her for her language) homework that did little to ease her temper.

Mother handed her the bento with a smile, "Rei-chan broke her hand the other day on a mission. Her genin messed up a little on the trajectory of something. I'm not sure..." She trailed off, losing her train of thought. Izumi smiled proudly because she was right. Paperwork does not compare to experience! "Oh! So I made your Godmother her favorite foods. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you!" Mother gave her a final kiss and shooed her towards the door. Izumi obediantly slid her shoes on, one hand clutching the bento, and she shut the door quietly.

The Yamanaka compound worried Izumi to no end, and perhaps it was paranoia at the fact that they got inside your head. She didn't quite want them in her mind; strolling into the memories a four year old should not have. The first time she had been taken into the Yamanaka compound to see her godmother had been both disturbing and interesting.

The compound itself consisted of many wooden structures that were lines up around the main manor, amd each was painted bright colors with the symbol on every banner, every sign, and it was a very energenic clan. There were many windows, and it made Izumi think it was for more areas to see to use their mind transfer jutsu.

There were flowers everywhere; Izumi heard rumors of the main family (it was different from her clan's ways, meaning clan leader's family), wishing to start a flower shop.

She turned down a corner, deep in thought and almost didn't hear Minato calling for her. Her head snapped up to see the boy jumping from an apartment (it wasn't all that nice, and she had suspected her friend was facing poverty a time ago), and he landed in front of her with a smile.

"Izumi-chan," He greeted, and Izumi smiled softly at the kind-hearted boy that she had befriended. He began walking with her, looking curious.

"I'm going to see my godmother." She shook the bento careless of the contents. "Kaa-chan asked me to." Minato nodded, understanding.

"Ano...what did you get on Number Two? I couldn't get it ." His shoulders dropped at his words. Izumi felt bad for the determined boy, so she smiled.

"I got 3 Kilometers. It was too hard so it might be wrong. But we'll be wrong together!" Izumi wrapped her still-chubby arms around her thin friend. He nodded, and she knows she's right, but she wanted him to feel good.

She had already vowed to treat him as her litttle brother (she was aware of his two year senority, but 84 years is way older than 6), and that meant treating better than she ever did with Natsu. She would actually explain it to him, but she has to play the part of 4 years old.

Minato kept staring at the monument as they walked in a content silence, and he began to slow down. She didn't realize he stopped walking until she was almost 20 feet away, and had to jog back.

"Is something..." She trailed off and his eyes are set on that craved mountain, and that unwavering look appears once more, causing her to freeze too at how familiar it is. It's different this time, and it reminds her of Hashirama Senju.

When she began the peace meetings, she originally (after some talk) refused to join the village of Konohagakure (despite that branch member's advice), and he had gotten onto his knees in front of her. They needed the Hyuga's wealth and power, and he spoke to her in a way that made her heart skip beats and she honestly believed in his hopes.

It was that stare that she saw on Hashirama's face that she saw on Minato's.

His childish voice was quiet now; he was too serious for a child. "I want to be a great Hokage," The little boy said, "who will be admired in the entire village." He placed a hand over his heart, and the purple-haired girl (her hair was barely purple now) stared at him in confusion for almost ten seconds before nodding quickly.

"I think you can!" She smiled (it still felt strange to be this emotional) and put a fist up. "And I'll be there to help you with all that Hokage-stuff."

It was understandable why he wanted to be admired, seeing as he was a simply poor-kid living in a small apartment. He was nothing special, and not well known. The Hokage is known by everyone and well-respected.

"We'll have really good jutsu names too. Like...like Halo Hurricane or Spiraling...or.." He is cut off by Izumi sticking a dango in his mouth (she stole it out of the bento because Rei didn't deserve it, the way she is alwys smashing the poor girl in her arms), and the boy smiled and politely thanked her.

She hoped those weird names were simply a childhood thing because they were sad (Izumi didn't know his poor naming skills would follow him into adulthood), and they walked for about twenty minutes until they came upon a set of gates that were not as nice as that of the Hyuga compound, but were colorful and had flowers around them. Minato took his leave, and Izumi looked at the plaque above the door. It read "Yamanaka" in curly print.

A pretty blond haired girl named Emiko waved at the gate waved to her, before she bowed deeply. "Izumi-san, a pleasure to see you. I'm assuming you are here for my aunt?" Emiko stood the exact height of Rei (and was much more bearable than her aunt), and she knew Izumi. Mother was a very well-known figure at most of the clan compound, and everyone knew her daughter.

"Hello," She greeted. "Kaa-chan asked me to give this to Auntie Rei." Those words burned her tongue, as she did not like calling her that. Emiko nodded understandingly, and stared at the sky.

"My aunt is a talker and I doubt she'll let you leave before dark. How about I deliver it on shift change? It will be no trouble at all, and my shift ends in 10 minutes anyway." Emiko held her hands out, prompting Izumi to hand over the bento into the kind-girl's hands. "You hurry home. I don't want you to get caught in the dark all alone."

"Thank you!" Izumi chimed like any good little girl, and she bowed to the Yamanaka before turning to leave.

Izumi turns to leave, and she feels a little lonely to walk without Minato (she's never felt lonely without a friend before), and she kicked a rock to pass the time.

It was boring to walk alone, and Izumi vowed to at least TRY to find more friends, even if it was unlikely for her. She was (even at her best) socially awkward, even if she tried to act like a civilized person on the outside.

She was half-way through her walk home when a faint chakra jolted into her senses. Izumi suspects it was supposed to be hidden, but nothing can hide from her highly trained sensory. She continued, acting unfazed and interested. Her foot touches the pebble again.

 _One. Two. Three steps. Kick the pebble._

The chakra did not do as she hoped and leave. It was not just a passing ninja. It was following her, but she continued to routine.

 _One. Two. Three. Pebble._

Her Byakugan activated to watch whoever was stalking her. It was a man not 20 feet away from her, hiding in the large, plentiful trees that were all over Konoha.

 _One. Two. Three. Pebble._

She got a good look at him via her kekkai genkai. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged — concealing a strange chakra under it that made her assume that it was not his nature eye. He was an older man with an x-shaped scar on his chin, and Izumi had a chill in her bones as she watched him.

 _One. Two. Three. Kick._

The Hyuga compound was up ahead, causing the man to slow down as they neared it. She was ten feet from the gate when she spun around and shot the pebble directly at him, and blinked.

The man was gone as soon as the pebble was launched, and after she blinked the pebble was gone, too. Izumi had no idea who he is, but something felt off. In her battle expirence, that was never good. She didn't see a hitai-ate, but that didn't mean he wasn't from Konoha.

She would have to keep a closer eye out, and if he was a threat then Izumi had no problem with striking him dead. No one would be a threat to her village.

...

 **So, who can guess who she saw~ Anyway, thank you for the reviews, and I will try to update when I can. Izumi is kind of a dry character, but she's trying to be a little normal and happy and cheerful. Child Minato is so hard to write, but Grown Minato is so easy! Grrr! I hope you review any errors or anything you like. Enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10

After school, Izumi drags her tired body back home with little interest in doing homework. She always did it at school anyway (she learned to simply use her Byakugan to look at the answer sheet resting in Satako-sensei's folders), and she couldn't bear to do much these days. Everyday she just comes and talks to her sister through this bench because she feels her sister here. She feels her in those violets and roses. She feels her on the wind. She feels her sitting on the bench next to her.

Izumi was amazed at how she could be remembered and forgotten all at once, and she didn't blame them for

it. Her attempts at communication were often times rejected with little to no actual contact. They looked at her and saw someone strange, like a oni. A strange haired demon, and Izumi probably didn't help the situation with her natural aura that often forced people from her.

She was absolutely fine with that. Why did someone like her need friends anyway? She had Hiromi and Minato and they were ALL she needed. She had learmed too early in life to keep a wall between herself and the world around her for her own safety; breaking old habits distressed her.

Everyone is class knew who she was, she was miss perfect. She was prim and proper, and brilliant. The "prodigy" and still, every also forgot her. When they picked groups, she was chosen last. No one invited her to birthday parties or festivals, and no one offered to make her feel welcome. Izumi sat in the last row and no one could quite remember her until they saw her again. Izumi found it amusing. There was this Mikoto-girl that Hiromi was eager to introduce, but Izumi was hesitant. Her past relationship with an Uchiha hadn't gone as well as originally hoped.

She and Madara never did seem to see eye to eye, not to mention the fact he had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. However, something very concerning did catch her attention when she thought about this. Before Handsigns or Ninjutsu Basics, Satako-sensei had found that the standards demanded the history of Konohagakure no Sato, which had made Izumi smile. The women babbled on and on about the Wars of the Warring States Era (most of it was not true, Kami-!), and when it came to the point where everyone's heroic Hashirama Senju came into play, there was a key point that left Izumi confused.

It stated that Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju agreed to a creasefire, and the settlement to become Konoha was formed. That statement was correct, however after this Madara Uchiha seemed to be erased from history, which doesn't seem to fit into the memories that Izumi had of her era. Madara was a huge part of history! How could the infamous Uchiha simply disappear?

Izumi (shocking everyone) interrupted Satako-sensei halfway into her lesson on the First Hokage, and inquired about the missing Uchiha. Satako-sensei shrugged, replying that he was not important. Secretly, Izumi believes that the woman hadn't even been taught who he was.

Not important, though? How? She was told he was simply the man that shook the First Hokage's hand and that was all history put him as, and Izumi wanted to scream. While she did hate the man, he was a very important figure that Konohagakure's generations deserved to know about, instead they learned more of how the Nara and Yamanaka clans came to be (useless!), prompting Izumi to bit her own tongue. She feared she would have shrieked at the teacher if she had not.

The small girl laid her body lifelessly onto the marble bench, and she pressed her cheeks against the cold stone, comfort flowing into her with this piece of the past.

Izumi was worried over this village. Everything seemed wrong. Madara Uchiha obvious did something horrible, Natsu is dead, the Senju brothers are dead, and Izumi herself should be dead. Recently she had felt chakra following her, and the adult-child consider every choice (or every specific word or body gesture) carefully, no matter how small, for it will affect the bigger decisions made either by her or by someone else. Everything she did was being monitored and she was a perfect example of a enigma that should not exist, causing her every move to be more precise. Weapons were created from those enigmas, and Izumi had seen first hand where these kind of things went.

She worried over Minato; he was a perfect match for her in all the wrong ways. Her body and physcial abilities were beginning to match up with her spiritual energy, causing her to slowly regain her former strength. She could knock him out and run circles around, but he was also up there with her in skill. If she hadn't known any better, she would have sworn he was reincarnated too. Of course, his mind is that of a little child's and his chakra is not yet ready for jutsu, but still Izumi was sure he would be targeted fot his talents as well.

She wasn't perticular scared if anything happened to her, but Minato needed her protection and strength. No one would touch him on her watch. She had already lost one sibling, she would be damned if she lost two.

...

Izumi Hyuga swallowed her pride. She was short, but damnit that was not her fault! She knew for a fact she was tall in her past life if her 5'11 statue was anything special. But why was she so short now? Kami-sama!

She was sitting in class diligently taking notes as Satako-sensei explained how to write down and work through the process of basic trajectory (Izumi still had a deep, deep hatred of the work), and she was still too short to see over the desk. She was using her Byakugan so she didn't have to sit on her knees for notes, and she simply was hidden away from the class. It was hard enough for her to be a kid, but a short one? It was unholy. How did anyone expect her to see over this forsaken desk?

The mix haired girl didn't strictly need to take notes, but she was already close to failing her Daily Grades because reluctance to take notes (why did words on paper matter), and so she did it simply for her grades. It was strange though, because despite how cold Satako-sensei was, she did not in fact hit any of the children for not taking notes. Hiroto-san would have beaten her black and blue with that wooden cane he was so fond of if she slacked off like this, so why didn't they use that method?

It was odd, but Izumi had read that beatings were replaced by reward methods and more encouraging undertones that seemed more trivial than what she had known. Still, it was a nice change that she accepted.

It didn't matter anyway, seeing as Izumi wouldn't be here long anyway, most ninja in her day were out on missions by six years old. She supposed it was the same here, and they were just using this year for basics...right?

Hiromi had given her strange glances when she had originally asked, but that could mean anything. It would be nice to not have to fight so young (she'd worry over Hiromi too much), and it would be different.

Izumi had learned that with every step forward in accepting this world, she took three steps back into her haughty past. Her mind couldn't quite let go of who she had been compared to her she was now.

She shook her head and continued her notes, disappointment filling her to the brim as Satako-sensei informed the class that no there would be no physical training. Notes all day!

Izumi visablly winced, and continued her writing. The only sounds in the room consisted of chalk on the black board and it caused the Hyuga a wince or two alongside a few Inuzuka members.

The chalk was tossed down. "Alright. You may stop!" Satako-sensei announced. Izumi obediantly set down her stuff, and she remained with her Byakugan active, and Minato kept giving her nervous glances as he shuffled in his seat. Izumi was sure that her Byakugan was intimidating (she had been scared of it when she was about 3), and flashed him a smile. There was something just a little bit off about him and Izumi could feel it.

Satako-sensei glanced at the clock, "I have a meeting," She began, looking pissed at the world. "And you brats have finished all your work for today. That means 30 minutes of free time." All of the kids began cheering (even Minato seemed pleased), but stopped at her sharp glare.

It seems that their cries of happiness were in no way pleasing, nor will it ever be something "happy" for her. Satako-sensei was simply a bitter person.

She gave them a warning glance that Izumi would have met head on if she could see over this cursed desk. "There are three classrooms on this hall, ours included. That means that two other teachers will hear if you get too rowdy." She pauses, her chakra flickering. "And I will know if you do anything too obnoxious. There WILL be severe punishments. I suggest you get caught up on make-up work or homework before you maggots fail this class. If everything is done, free time. Understood?"

"Hai, Satako-sensei!" chimed the class in high-pitched unison. No one dared move until Satako-sensei had exited the room with a door slam, and her footsteps were down the hall. The Byakugan slowly faded from the girl's eyes, and she sat up straighter, sliding onto her knees to watch those interacting around.

Hesitantly, as if waiting for Satako to pop out of nowhere, her peers began to move and switch places. A bundle of low-class clan girls were giggling together near the large chalk board, while these other boys began tossing a small, blue ball back and forth to one another from across the room. Some resorted to drawing.

"Hiromi!" Mikoto called from across the room, beaming and showing off the gap where a baby tooth had fallen out, and Hiromi looked to Izumi, who raised an eyebrow. Hiromi always had to ask her younger cousin's permission for this, and the mixed-hair girl determined it was so she didn't feel left out. She nodded, and Hiromi jumped to her feet, rushing to her friend who was holding out a few bows for hair-tying.

Minato leaned in close to Izumi, "So what should we do?" The Hyuga-girl shrugged her shoulders a bit, and her eyes scanned across the room.

"Hey, Minato!" A boy with dark hair and glasses said excitedly, "We need another player for Kami bōru!" He looked eager, and Minato did too in his own shy way. He looked to Izumi, and she shook her head softly at why they always looked to her for answers.

"You won't be lonely?" He asked softly, and Izumi smiled reassuringly.

"No. I hate paper ball, anyway." It really was a dumb game. "I need to study for the test, too." It was a lie. Izumi did not, but why should her lack of social skills ruin Minato's fun? The blond nodded with a small smile before rushing to his other buddies.

Izumi took out a book that she checked out to read, and began tuning everything around her out until something caught her attention.

She scanned the room, and when she found what she was looking for, Izumi frowned.

...

Juncho Akimichi wasn't the type of girl to draw attention to herself. No, she just didn't. She wanted to be loud and happy and energetic, but she had too much fear to do so. She didn't want to be judged but at the same time she didn't care. It was anxiety that forced her to be quiet and sit in her corner, all while trying to be a good student.

She didn't exactly think she was all that pretty like the other girls. She was chubby like all members of her clan (more like a big whale), and her hair was black and thick and she wore it in a hair tie. Her eyes were greenish-blue, and she had the ugliest red marks on her cheeks running from her lower eyes to her jaw bones, and she wore baggy clothing to try and hide all of her weight.

She likes to think at six (almost seven, mind you) that she knew where her life was going. She dreamed of being a medic and saving people! It was her goal, and maybe get married too if their was anyone who loved her like daddy loved mama.

Juncho sat in her corner seat, hiding her face in a big book that was all about fairy-tales and legends, and she wanted to go ask if she could play with the girls who were laughing too loudly, but she got all scared so she was simply sitting there reading the same page over and over again. She didn't have any friends to actually play with or tie hair with or anything. She was just that Akimichi girl.

The chubby girl stopped reading when a large shadow was cast over her seat, blocking the light from glowing over her. She looked up shyly and her book was snatched from her hands, and she yelped. Zan Kokuna was the biggest bully their entire grade, and he was huge, even compared to other older kids. His hair was long, curly and knotted with a permant scowl painted on his face. An Inuzuka boy and two civilians sneered from either side of him. She was froze in place.

"Hey, fatty-patty!" He sneered at her with a devious smile, and her heart sank at the words. He slammed the book onto the desk, "Ugly nerd!"

Zan was one of the few people in class who could ruin you by just a few words. He and his friends were as cruel as they came, constantly going to find "fresh meat" and were mean to them for no reason. Juncho isn't sure why they are like that, but they do it.

"I'm sorry." She doesn't know why she's apologizing but she does, moving to stand up. Juncho is only in the wide steps between the rows, before she was shoved back down on the ground, hard. She softly cried out as her bum hit the hard wooden floor.

"You ugly, dumb fatty-patty" he sneered at her, grabbing onto her. "Why do you think you can run away from me?" He shook her arm roughly.

"But… I-I...!" she stuttered, feeling tears burning her eyes as the cruel boy loomed over her, and his grip hurt alot. His friends laughed as crowded in around her, jabbing at her and chanting "fatty-patty" at her.

"I...Leave me a-alone." She begged desperately then added "...please."

This caused Zan to laugh at her "Aw! Does fat baby need a bottle?" he mocked with a self-satisfied grin, "Nah! I don't think I will. You're fresh meat and no one gets to just leave after we ger here," His nails dig painfully into her skin, and it hurts a bunch and tears are following down her cheeks.

The Inuzuka boy snarls at the Akimichi, and she flinches back scared. Zan got in her face and saw the tears before seeing her facial markings.

"Ew! Look at those dumb lines on hr fat it makes you look like a freak. Not that it makes a lot of difference with how ugly you already, fatso!" He leaned in and grabbed her cheeks, pinching and pulling on them til it burned. "Maybe I can yank 'em off, right-"

"Perhaps instead, you can let go of that girl." A girl's voice from behind the gang. They spun around angrily to see who had interupted, moving to the sides to give Zan a clear path to look at who it was. Juncho gasped at who stood there. It was a Hyuga!

Her parents had spoken about how a younger girl prodigy would be in her class a few times, but Juncho har never really noticed her before. She was really small and fragile-looking with pretty hair and lilac eyes. She stood there with a slightly bored expression on her face and a unreadable smile.

She took two steps towards Zan, unafraid of the boy who looked like a giant compared to the kimono-wearing girl. She cocked her head to the side with a smile, "Let her go before I am forced to make you do so," Her body isn't tense, and she takes a step towards them leisurely.

Zan snarled back at her, "Who do ya think you are? Leave us alone, ya baby, before we do this to you. You can't do nothin' to me." The Hyuga didn't seem affected, and instead she put a hand on her hip as a smile tugged at her lips, and in fear Juncho remained frozen in her spot. Zan burned in anger at her reaction and his gang boxed in the young Hyuga, and she just laughs.

"Why you laughin' baby? You're out-numbered!" He shook in anger, and Hyuga-girl didn't seem to care. Juncho wasn't even breathing. If they attakced, Hyuga would be destroyed! Was she brave enough to help?

Her eyes were shards of the finest pearls, and her face darkened, "I will give you one more warning. Leave us alone, now." She left no room for arguments, using an adult tone that Juncho's grandma used a whole bunch.

Zan was vibrating with much anger due to the arrogance in the Hyuga. Juncho thought it was a wonder he hadn't exploded like a balloon with too much pressure. She was shocked that Hyuga-girl was testing him so much, and his Inuzuka friend (they were known for their tempers and fericiousness) was seething. The civilains were weary, but helped. He glared and the entire bully circle came closer to her.

Juncho was shocked at how quick the girl's hands moved in different hand signs.

 _She knows Ninjutsu like real ninja!_

And four Hyuga clones stood around next to her, no one expected that nor did they expect all five of them to use their kekkai genkai, the Byakugan.

"I warned you." She didn't even have to touch them, just jumped at them a little before they dispersed as quickly as possibly, stumbling in their attempt to get away from the threat that was a four year old little girl.

Juncho was shocked anyone stood up for her, and in a poof of smoke, all four clones disappeared and one remained (her kekkai genkai was disactive), and she smiled gently at Juncho.

She offered her a hand, and she took it shakily before standing. Juncho sat back in her corner seat, looking up at the Hyuga.

"Thank..you."

"What's your name?"

"Juncho Akimichi." Thank goodness she didn't stutter.

"Izumi Hyuga. They will not bother you again." She wiped her tears away, and her hands remain on her cheeks. "Don't mind their words. They are fools. These marks represent pride in your clan."

Juncho blushed, "I-I..." She looked nervous, and didn't know what to say to her savior.

Izumi continued, taking her hand away and sitting down next to her, sliding her the child's legend book. "You are very pretty. For an Akimichi, you are very thin. You aren't ugly at all, those damn boys. You aren't fat, you can't even say you are deathly skinny either. You are perfectly shaped," She gave hee a reassuring grin. "Though, you shouldn't wear such baggy clothing, they make you look bigger than you are. Nor should you hide your face under these bangs. Red is your color, I believe."

Juncho didn't know how to respond, instead she stared at the girl with the purple/white hair and just gawked at her. Izumi smiled knowingly, setting a hand on her shoulder and meeting her eyes.

"If they bother you again tell me. And there is no need to be lonely, how about you eat with me at lunch on Monday? Friends don't need to be alone." The bell rings as the words slip out of her mouth, and she stands with a wave as another Hyuga comes up to and they walk away.

The Akimichi is left there with tears threatning to fall. Did she have a friend now?

...

She came home to a silent marble bench like always, and no one (not even branch members) was in her garden. Izumi tossed herself onto the ground, pondering a few things.

Maybe she had been too...pushy with her words. Her lack of social interaction made it hard to know if she had made any real progress with this whole "friend" thing. But atleast she had done something her old self would not have.

With the lack of pressures from her family, she felt herself loosen up more than she had ever before. In her era, she would have allowed Juncho to deal with it herself. You have to be strong, but now she actually played hero. It was refreshing to have someone really need her, and to be a savior. It felt nice to be...nice.

It left Izumi feeling tingly, but it was nice to know she might have made a friend from her act of kindness. The girl was quite nice-looking. She just needed confindence and some pride; both things Izumi had enough of and she was willing to share.

If she did have lunch with the Akimichi, then she would have another precious person and another anchor to this world.

"So Natsu," She said to the bench, tracing the area on the marble where she carved her name into it almost a few decades ago. "I just have to tell you what happened today..."

...

 _ **Thanks for the comments! So as much as I simply love Minato and Izumi's friendship, I just had to give her someone else. I know I could have used actual characters like Mikoto Uchuha or Mebuki Haruno or Ino's mom, or any of those people but I couldn't see her with any of those people. Please review and enjoy.**_


	11. Chapter 11

Izumi was not pouting by any means! She simply wasn't pouting! Clan leaders did not pout.

Except, perhaps she was. Just a little, however, so you can take your judgement of her and shove it out of a window for all she cared. She was less than pleased at being "babysat" seeing as she was mature and well-trained. Why did she need babysitters? She had Oka and Seishiro, but they were out of the question seeing as Seishiro was injured on a mission, and Oka refused to leave his side and while she wanted to argue, her mother would hear none of it!

Mother was not a pushy woman; no she was cheerful and bright with a nice attitude, so when she told Izumi not to argue, it shut the 84 year old up in an instant. She was pouting, though. Mother and Father insisted that children should not be home alone and it was maddening!

She did not like being babysat as no one seemed to understand her outside of her family, but the number of people she trusted was dwindling very, very quickly.

 _Oka was taking care of her husband._

 _Seishiro was said husband._

 _Rei had broken bones._

 _Hiromi's mum and dad were on a romantic day._

 _She had no one else._

Her frustrations leaned more to the fact that her parents were afraid she would be kidnapped if they left alone. Apparently you could not hide from two ex-ANBU that their child was being stalked by strange men, and of course it meant Izumi had little to no freedom, even during the day when she could be practicing her kata at home, alone.

Mother's voice interrupted her musings, "Now, sweetheart, do you remember who we're visiting today?"

"Your teammate's wife." Izumi responded, and Mother smiled at her, ruffling her hair in a way that caused her to flinch delicately. Her mother's lack of respect towards her hair was sickening, and it was even worse than those cursed ink stains from two years ago.

Mother hummed. "I'm excited for you." She admitted. "You'll be spending a lot more time with Mirai-can when I'm with my squad, you know. You have to be on your best behavior, okay?" They spoken about this weeks ago, now that Izumi was in the Academy, her mother wanted to pursue a genin squad of her own. She nodded with litte interest in the subject.

"Hai, Kaa-chan."

Mother knocked on the door and waited for a few moments. "Mirai-chan, it's me," She called through the door. Izumi raised an eyebrow at the three chakra signitures inside the building. There was something inside the apartment that made her uncomfortable. It was not imminent instead it was something...powerful that Izumi didn't usually feel in anyone in the village besides ANBU, or clan heads.

The door opened and in spite of her usual self-control, she watched with interest, and out popped a pregnant woman, her hand rubbing against her stomach and she smiled at Mother.

"Hey, Asuka-chan!" The woman, Murai, greeted as she wrapped an arm around her waist. She didn't look two far along and that accounted for two of the three chakra signitures, and she smiled lightly at the woman. Even back in her past life, Izumi had a respect for pregnant women as the strongest of their kind. They carried a child for nine months then risked their lives to bring them into the world.

"Good morning, Murai; how's the little one?" She leaned down, with a hesitating hand and the woman nodded quickly allowing Mother to touch the baby bump.

"Fine, but he's as cruel to me as his lazy father. He never wants to move when I want him to, only when I'm trying to sleep." Murai laughed, pausing only to examine the mixed-haired girl. "Ah, you brought Izumi-chan. Sakumo will be so happy to his goddaughter, finally."

That made Izumi freeze. Sakumo was her mother's teammate (she had never met him), but she was in no way aware of his identity as her godfather. Mirai allowed her two guests inside the home, while she was quickly examined by Izumi. Mirai Hatake was short (she understood Izumi's pain) with long, long inky black hair and delicate features. Her eyes were almond-shaped with a dark coloring, and she was using red lipstick alongside a red maternity dress.

Izumi's eyes darted from her babysittier to the house, taking in each detail. The home was quaint, with a comfortable and home-ish feeling about that made her feel less guarded. There were scrolls and documents sprawled over the table, with lots of pillows on the couch. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the table actually had _chairs_. All of her life, dinner had been served on zabuton, which was a cushion that you sat on your knees on.

"I'm so thankful that you've been so good a friend." Mirai laughed softly. "I couldn't have asked for a better friend, Asuka. I just have to thank you for all of those baby clothes; they are all so high-class. We couldn't have afford silk and satin like this."

"What are friends for?" She rubbed her friend's bump, "Besides, we've known each other since our Academy days! Besides, Noboru would have absolutey died if he didn't give something to you. I had to stop him from buying a crib set, because be was going crazy. Thankful, most of Izumi's clothes were unisex colors, so it's no gender problem at all."

Izumi watched the adults with facination, clinging to every word as she learned more about her parent's world.

"Noboru always did try to be my elder brother, and I'm so thankful for it. He's got a good heart, but you should have seen when I told him. I swear he almost fainted!"

A devious smile lit up on Mother's face, and she leaned in as far as she could. "He did faint when I told him with Izumi. He had a mild concussion." Both women laughed, and Mother continued after catching her breath. "Thank you for watching Izumi. She has her backpack because her teacher assigned weekend work, so just make sure she does it. Otherwise, it'll feel like she's not even here,"

"It's no problem at all, Asuka." Mirai's face darkened, and she glanced at Izumi (who acted as if she was preoccupied with a scroll), and continued quietly. "I've been hearing stories about children getting...I think she's safer here with Sakumo while you two are busy." Her voice came up an octave. "Besides I need more experience with young children! I mean, Izumi's not a infant, but all the others say they grow up too fast." Mirai announced cheerfully.

Izumi had little interest in their conversation after that, it had changed to frivilious topics with little information. The 84 year old was confused, way too confused for her likings. This topic was always being brought up, but what was happening? What happened to some children? Were they murdered; slaughtered in their bed? Or...?

She glanced around as she examined the house for that strange chakra feeling. Traces littered the entire house, and it was somewhere. It coursed through her veins like an electrical current (obviously it was an lightning chakra nature), and she followed it down a short-hallway. She crept down the hallway soundless, following the chakra. That was nothing new for her, tracking was part of survival. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end when she focused on the room where the chakra was.

It was huge (a mix of water and lightning) and she was frozen in the doorway when she swung it open. It hit her like a punch in the gut; this person was powerful.

"I guess you're Izumi-chan?" The man inside prompted gently, when he noticed her face, and she tilted her head as she examined him.

Sakumo had a kind face with dark eyes which possessed had very light lines (most likely from stress, not age) running underneath them, and spiky, silver-coloured hair that reached into the middle of his back tied in a ponytail. He wore a standard Konoha-nin uniform and Izumi spotted his vest lazily tossed to the side on a chair.

She nodded, unable to form words. His chakra was overwhelming, but in a strangely comforting way that just felt like protection.

"I'm not good with kids," He chuckled. "I planned on just hiding in here until you left. It seems like you are good at hide and seek. My name's Sakumo. It's nice to meet you," He held out his hand, and Izumi didn't take it right away.

She scruntinized every inch of him first, her pale eyes locking onto his in a battle of wills, and he visablly flinched under her sharp gaze, smiling awkwardly. It took her almost two seconds more before she shook his hand formally; firm and strong.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Goddofāzā." Izumi intoned, while Sakumo smiled brightly at her words.

"I see she found you," Mirai noted softly. Both whirled around to find her there with a big grin, an arm wrapped around her waist. "Asuka already left, she said to tell you thank you and that you are the 'best teammate ever'." Mirai gave him a smile, "So, Sakumo, why don't you help Izumi-chan with her homework?"

Both Sakumo and Izumi's shoulders dropped in reluctance.

...

Izumi looked over her notes and muttered under her breath as she reviewed what she needed to for homework, and her shoulders remained dropped as soon as her eyes fell on the section about genjutsu. She understood the art and nature of the subject inside and out, but Izumi would relucatantly admit that she had never been very good at it nor had she used it that much.

She glanced over at Sakumo, and her frown deepened significantly. It had taken her a few minutes to put together the fact that he was Konoha's White Fang, someone extroidinary, but he didn't look it right at the moment.

He was staring at the page of homework as if it were written in a different language of some sort, and he hadn't completed a single problem. While she had finished four sheets, he was stuck on this one problem that he couldn't seem to solve.

"I..." The man began. "What is this?" He gave her a inquiring glance and she looked over at it curiously, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Oh. Algebra." She said, before going back to writing the three methods for getting out of Genjutsu, and he remained quiet long enough for her to finish.

"It's math, but why is there letters in it?"

 _He really was not helping at all._

Izumi sighed, snatching the paper from him and proceeding to solve it for him, and he gawked. It left her with a feeling of superiority considering she only learned this last week, and she was slightly smirking. Only slightly.

Sakumo stared at the bundles of homework. "When I was the Academy, they were still trying to write the standards and cirriculum. I was learning how to throw kunai, not algebra. It doesn't seem like it would help much on the battlefield."

Izumi dropped her pencil at his words and he looked at her concerned, while she just smiled, idly tapping as she did so. He may be confused, but his exact opinion was WHAT SHE HAD BEEN SAYING FOR WEEKS!

 _Someone understands..._

...

She did admit that she was a little disappointed to leave the Hatake Household, seeing as she had found she enjoyed it there.

Mirai fed her all sorts of sweets (they were rare in her time, and Izumi was very fond of them), while Sakumo made her feel arrogant at his inability to do her homework. She did get to feel Mirai's baby moving around, and she learned it was a boy.

She also hoped they choose different names before it was born.

Izumi would be damned if they named him Botan.

...

True to her word, when Monday rolled around Izumi did invite the Akimichi to sit with her. Minato was off with a few of the more pleasant boys in class and Hiromi was with Mikoto trying to get Mebuki and Muika (she was a mousy, brown haired Yamanaka with strange red/brown eyes) to go to the park later today with them.

Juncho sat anxiously at the long picnic table under the sakura trees that Izumi had chosen for them to sit. It was a decent area considering the shade it provided shade from the warm afternoons and the protection from rain or snow. Izumi sat across from her new 'friend' eating her meal at a quick pace (it was habit, her past childhood consisted of starvation), and Juncho was simply picking at her meal. They were the only ones sitting at the table because of Izumi's friends being off in their own worlds and she simply didn't like anyone else.

Izumi finished her meal first, and sat there gazing at the girl near her. She didn't find it surprising that she had befriended an Akimichi (believe it or not, the Hyuga and Akimichi were very close allies during the Warring Era), but she was mildly surprised at how quickly stories of what happened three days ago got around.

The stories rotating around involved Izumi jumping those few boys outside after school and threatning them. One involved 1000 clones ready to strike, while another involved her attacking their chakra pathways so she didn't leave a mark. Each story was more wild than the last, but the message was clear. Not only Juncho Akimichi, but the Minato and Hiromi were off-limits to bullies.

Not one to enjoy silence someone was around, Izumi spoke first. "So you're from a ninja family right? Or are your parents civilians?" asked the short girl with interest. She had heard of times when clan member (male and female) had decided to forsake their ancestors ways, and become civilains or retire as ninja.

Juncho smiled nervous, "My dad used to be a jonin, but he decided to retire when I was born. My mom is a part-time nurse, but they both run a resturant in the west side of town." Now that Izumi didn't expect, considering the girl's shy demeanor. Usually children of high-class ninja a have an air of confidence considering their parent's status in society.

"Oh? My clan compound is down there too." Izumi noted. "I'll have to tell my family." Her words prompted Juncho to smile widely at her. The girl had taken her words seriously, because she no longer wore clothing that was too big.

Her shorts were black, with a longer red shirt that was almost kimono-like. Her black hair was tied in a high pony, with a red headband that held back her bangs. The headband itself had long ribbons that went down to her neck. Izumi thought she looked very, very nice.

"That's nice," she said "it would really help their business. What about you?"

Izumi made a thoughtful noise, "Mama is an ex-ANBU that has a genin team, and Papa is an ex-ANBU who now serves as a jonin." She looked at her placidly while Juncho seemed to have a light in her eyes.

"That's really cool. No wonder you're so strong!" Juncho recoiled shyly. "My parents are proud of me. I want to achieve big things like jonin and ANBU, just to make them really happy. They that it's an honor to serve Hokage-sama."

"True," Izumi said. "Titles do not make the ninja, nor does it mean you have achieved anything big. Is ANBU really your dream?"

Juncho flushed, and her cheeks lit up in color. Izumi did feel like Juncho wanted her family to be proud of her, but that was not what she wanted at all. She didn't quite belong to the category of people who just wanted to be ninja.

"I want to be a medic." Juncho blushed, and Izumi thought back to how important healers were in her day. They meant life or death, they were the ones that were truly important..

While Akimichi healers were a rarity these day, Izumi could see Juncho as one and whole-heartedly believed in the girl. She just needed some of Izumi's confidence, so she smiled and wrapped an arm around her nes friend.

"Well, I believe you can do it."

Izumi noticed that Juncho's smile never left her face for the rest of the day. Even when they were doing Algebra.

...

Two days later, Izumi meets her mom's genin team. They were fresh out of the Academy and as far as she knew, they were all clan children. Mother had bragged about how they were the best of their class and such.

Tsume Inuzuka, Hiashi Hyuga, and Shibi Aburame were in for a surprise when when they arrive for dinner with their teacher's family. Izumi answers the door at their knock, and gawks.

The first question Izumi asks when she sees them is simple:

 _"Why the hell are they so old?"_

...

 _ **Thanks so much for the reviews! If you hadn't noticed Botan is what the Naruto writers orignally considered naming Kakashi, so I thought I would throw that in there. Kakashi is a main character, and as you can see Izumi will have good reason to know him :) I've been planning the chapter for a week, trying to figure out when to throw in Sakumo and Mirai. It is a little slow, I know, but I like drawing things out. It makes for a better story. I hope you enjoy, and that that one reviewer, thanks for your help on English 'is' and 'are'. I'm from France and it's been kind of confusing, with all these rules and phrases. Please enjoy and review!**_


	12. Chapter 12

"You don't throw it like that." Izumi advised thoughtfully, and Juncho took her words to heart, positioning her kunai into a different position, turning it in her palm for a moment, before throwing it towards the straw dummy.

It missed the vitals, but it was a clean shot so Izumi didn't correct her. Juncho shot her a small glance, and then went to retrieve her kunai. "Ano...so is there a reason you have a guard?" She asked curiously, and Izumi sighed. She knew the question was coming and Juncho had kept glancing at him the entire time. Her entire body slumped and she sighed, shooting a dark look towards Sakumo.

"Mirai-nee has an appointment today, and Oka-nee is busy with her husband. Kaa-chan has her genin team to tend to, so I have to stick with him. He takes his job of babysitting too seriously, and now it seems he's guarding."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a complete lie either. Besides, Sakumo wasn't even suppose to be here at all today, as it was Academy time and he wasn't suppose to be here until it was time for her to be picked up, and she grunted in her annoyance. Juncho glanced around at all the kids practicing around them (Izumi was pleased to find Minato hitting his mark everytime), and nodded slowly. "I get it. Papa tried to spy on me the first day. He was scared and worried."

Izumi smiled at the excuse her friend just gave her, "Yeah. He is my godfather and all..."

They practiced in a comfortable silence for a few moments, and Izumi examined her friend's technique the entire time. Juncho was impressive (anyone with a jonin father would be), but her Kunai-throwing stances were off and she was not confident enough. Still, she would grow to be an extroidinary kunoichi.

She wasn't a once in a generation prodigy, but talented none the less.

"Alright maggots, enough individual time. Line up!" Satako-sensei barked, and it sounded so wrong coming from her lips. She looked too nice, and her real personality clashed with her apperance. "You know the order. With your partner!"

Obediantly, Juncho quickly (almost tripping) hurried to find her partner, Yoshino. Izumi just stood in her place, waiting for Minato to find her, and the boy seemed a little pale. "I didn't know we would have to show it in front of everyone..."

Izumi frowned, "It's fine. Most everyone here cannot even throw it. You"- she poked him in the chest, with a pause to prove her point. "-are brilliant." Minato gave responded with a small smile and a nod.

"Hai, uh..." He began, and Izumi nodded encouragingly as they took their places behind Mebuki and Hiromi, and she gave him a placid look. He nods back at her, inhaling sharply.

"So, Kaa-chan wanted to know if...you wanted to come to our house for dinner tomorrow night." Minato looked at her, before blurting. "You don't have to if you don't want to; she just wanted to know." Izumi glanced at the poorly hidden Sakumo (he was teasing her, she was sure), and it would be nice to get away from her "captors" also commonly known her babysitters.

She did love Mirai and she was fondof little Botan (she prayed the changed his name before his birth), who only began moving whenever she was around. Sakumo was jealous of the fact his unborn child liked her over him already, and they had a competition going over it. Izumi enjoyed to amuse herself by playing the games set by those 'older' than her, and she especially loved taunting Konoha's White Fang.

"Hello...?"

Izumi returned from her thoughts without even a jolt, "Of course," Her years of being an heiress came back to her. Formality dripped off of her tongue. "I would be honored to accept her gracious invitation." She blinked, and Izumi was quick to fall back onto her childish attitude.

Minato cocked his head to the side. "Does that mean yes?"

"Yes," Izumi confirmed. Minato grinned warmly at her, moving in for a quick hug. Her face lit up red unvolunteerily, and she looked away from his confused face. He had let go, and Izumi wasn't sure why she reacted like that from a simple hug. She didn't like him as anything more than a friend; meaning she had little to no romantic feelings for him at all.

Maybe it was because no boys had ever actually touched her. Since her old birth, she had grown up among the woman. Sure, she was trained by her father, cousin, and a few other males, yet none had ever showed any sort of family compassion. She hadn't loved anyone either. By the time she was 16 and ready for natural hormones to find herself a crush, she was too busy with her clan and she was dying. Izumi was quite sure not being able to breath was more important than boys. Though, it was not like any truly liked her anyway. She had been taller than most of them, and everyone called her 'cold-hearted' even in her later years when she was kind and compassionate.

Next! We don't have all damn day," Satako-sensei called, and lazily tossed kunai at Minato and herself, to aim at the straw stuffed bodies. There were two targets, and Minato was in front of her so he took the one on the left.

Satako-sensei signalled for him to begin, and Minato looked slight nervous, but also quite determined. Without hesitation, he gripped the ends of the kunai and launched towards the straw-person.

Impressively, Minato managed to get all of his kunai (why would they give kunai to six year olds; obviously they should be trained in a tanto first) to hit the straw in a straight line. Of course, none of these were lethal blows, but Izumi thinks she's the only one who thinks that. Either way, his strikes would have heavily damage the opponent, and if medical treatment was no readily available, they may bleed out.

Satako-sensei harshly points out every flaw that was made, like she did with everyone, and Minato had less critiques than the rest of the class. She calls Izumi to get ready and all eyes are on the Hyuga. Whatever had aimed for is a straight line, and Izumi knos they expect the "stupid Hyuga-showoff" to do the best.

"Go."

Without pause, Izumi rains down her weapons towards the thick dummy, not even hesitating as it comes naturally to her fingers. She goes for the obvious places, the lungs, the heart, the stomach, and then the liver. She supposed a forehead shot was lethal too, but most shinobi these days wear hitai-ate that would make these blows rare.

After she finished, she turned to her sensei with blank eyes, and Minato shot her a smile. The class all began chattering loudly at her supposed failure since it wasn't a line, and obviously waiting for the teacher to point out all of her horrible flaws.

Satako-sensei seemed stunned, unable to comprehend that the child had thrown lethal and accurate blows on a straw body, and she looked at the mixed haired girl, before nodding. "See me after class." She says quietly. "Ruika, Zan, You're up! Now!"

She gives Minato a thumbs up and compliments his throwing like a good friend; he says she did great, too.

Izumi's eyes search for that of her babysitter's dark ones in the trees that he is so poorly hiding in.

Confusion settles into the pit of her stomach at the sadness and despair his eyes hold when he looks at what she did on the dummy. She isn't sure what to do, so she turns her head away.

...

Two blank eyes stare into emotionless ones for a battle of wills as the final stragglers of the class began to leave, and the smaller of the two women is determined not to loose. She has stared into the eyes of death and neither flinched nor looked away. What is one jonin compared to that?

Once the door is shut by the final child, the woman gets down to business almost immediately. "You killed that dummy." She intoned in a dry voice. Izumi gave her a similiarly cold stare.

"Hai."

 _Huh_ , she thought absent mindedly, _At least she gets things done quickly._

"How did you learn this technique?" inquired the sensei. Izumi only stared, considering her answer carefully. It's in her nature to think of everything as a dance or game of sorts. You must always know the next step.

"I simply do." She said, as if this explained everything. In a vague way, this is a correct answer. She does. Izumi herself cannot recall which battleground she learned this from, and perhaps she was simply born into knowing how to kill.

Satako-sensei does not look content with the answer, but she accepts it anyway. "It is my professional opinion that you should move up a class. Several actually." The woman leaned back in her chair, and Izumi slipped her hands into her kimono sleeves as she eyes the woman. The 84 year old thought about it for a moment... if she moved up, that would mean she would graduate faster.

It was her opinion that 12 was not quite the correct age to send them onto the battlefield, or just plain missions. It was a waste of valuable soldiers when they could do it younger. When she was four, she would set up traps with wire and explosives around enemy territory with all the other toddlers. By six, she hsd killed more than 12 people. She didn't agree with the ages, but she could not afford to move up. She knew Minato, Juncho, and Hiromi could not move classes. They needed more training and more of a childhood. Izumi checked the clock, and noticed she had no time for this nonsense, as Mirai was finished with her appointment by now. That means if she and Sakumo leave now, they might catch up to her on the way to the Hatake Household. Izumi's guilty pleasure was the fact that Mirai loved to bake and buy her sweets all the time.

"No, thank you. I apperciate the fact you have approached me on the subject. " Izumi replied coolly, years of rejecting batty, snotty elders coming to use, "I find that I have a lot more to learn in this class." The girl's lilac eyes bore into her teacher's fierce ones."if that is all ma'am, I would like to be dismissed."

Satako frowned, "I have seen many talented maggots stay where they do not belong. They have turned into failures. I believe you are making a mistake." Were the last words Izumi heard, before she bowed and walked off.

Izumi stops at the door, her hand touching the cold metal of the handle and she says words that her past self would have never uttered. "Then I will be a proud failure."

...

Amazingly enough they did catch up to Mirai. Izumi was overly pleased to find that Mirai thought she was too thin, and bought her candies and sweets as they walked to the Hatake Household. She also asked if Izumi had any names on her mind for the baby.

She suggested Kama, but that didn't sound right either.

...

Nervousness wasn't an emotion to which Izumi was particularly accustomed—and it made her nervous.

After school (as promised) Izumi left with Minato, and since then she had beem ready to simply throw in the towel. These strange, anxious emotions were not ones that she knew well, and her skills at handling them were close to none.

These emotions made her feel slightly nauseous. It was like she had two hearts frantically beating in her chest, instead of one. Izumi is sure any medic would determine Tachycardia as a diagnoisis, and she would wholeheartedly agree with that.

It may also stem from the fact that it was the first time in a while that she does not possess a guard, and something feels amiss.

"Is it far?" Izumi inquired, as she shuffled almost invisably from one foot to the other. Minato shook his head at her words, and Izumi was forced to fake a smile for his sake. She hoped he didn't notice the corners of her mouth twitched from her anxiety.

"It will be fun," She babbled quietly. She began mumbling non-coherant things under her breath.

This never did happen in her past life. No one invited them to her house, no one wanted "Head-Hunter Izumi" near them, and now she was...scared. What if Minato's mother rejected her or didn't like her. What did she do when with someone else's parents? How did she act when you hung out?

Minato paused in his stride, "Did you know you talk more when you're nervous?" he said, blinking once or twice at his friend.

"No I don't. That's absurd. I-"

"Does my Kaa-chan make you nervous?"

"Of course not!" She said cheerfully as her stomach twisted into knot at the looming thought of messing up in front of his mother. "I'm not nervous." She insisted.

"Your smile is trembling."

"It'll be okay. My kaa-chan is really nice?" He assured. "She's even making snacks. She really wants to meet you. She doesn't really like Daisuke very much." Izumi nodded to herself at his words, but it did little to calm her high-strung nerves. She honestly did feel like a child.

 _I should have brought a gift._ Izumi fretted internally. _No, no...She invited you. Relax. Look at your surrondings._

She glanced around, and immediately knew she stuck out like a kunai in a box of shuriken. Minato's neighborhood was the impoverished, neglected, and otherwise disadvantaged residential area of the village.

They passed a few apartment building that looked like they needed to be condemned, and the glares from some of the cruel, non-clan civilians burns her back. There are a dilapidated buildings near by with half-fenced yards littered with old, wood chunks that have no purpose.

"There it is." Minato points towards a group of different concrete carbuncles, that make her wince delicately. While the building is not quite as horrific as those they passed, it wasn't too pleasant to gaze at and she felt a new apperciation for the always-smiling boy.

"It's modest." Izumi tells him encouragingly, but he doesn't quite understand her words, so he just thanks her. He grabs her smaller hand, quickly tugging the kimono-wearing girl behind him as he sprinted up the stairs. Due to his speed, Izumi is sure anyone else would have fallen.

They make it to the door in record time, and Minato opens the door for her like a proper gentleman. "Kaa-chan." Minato exclaims. "We're home."

A soft, angelic voice calls back. "Bring her in the kitchen, Minnie-chan." The boy blushed a deep red, and he shyly looks away at nickname, while his classmate smirks.

He motions her to follow him (she slips off her shoes like years of manners had taught her), and when she does, she is stricken to see what his mother looked like.

It was apparent where Minato got his more feminine apperance from, and he was a carbon copy of the woman. She was twine-thin with burnished complexion and a button nose. Her hair was sun-rise gold (slightly ruffled like small spikes) that was braided down her back similiar to Izumi's own style, and she is finished off with constellation-blue eyes that had dark rings under them and her skin was slightly sunken in. It was obvious that she wasn't in the best of heath and her vibrant clothing did little to hide that fact.

The woman beamed, "You must be Izumi-chan. I'm Miho Namikaze." She holds out a hand to the fretting girl.

"It is an honor to meet you, Namikaze-san." Her voice sounded much cooler than she felt. Inside, her organs were being squeezed and stabbed. There were no butterflies in her stomach, only wild bats that wished to rip themselves a way out. She took Miho's slender hand with her own pudgy one (her baby fat was hard to loose), and shook it firmly.

Miho laughed, "Please call me Miho." She winks at her son. "Minato-chan has told me all about you. He goes on and on about his friends, but especially you." Minato looks embarrased, and looks away while Izumi is flattered.

She isn't sure if that's what friends do, but she does talk a lot about Minato and Juncho, so she assumes it is.

"I hope all good things," She responds with a perfect smile. Miho giggles at her responce, touching her forehead.

"My, so formal. You are so polite, Izumi-chan." She straightens herself up. "Minnie, why don't you take Izumi-chan to the sitting room while I finish the snacks, okay? Go show her your book collection."

Minato nods obediantly, "She likes you." He whispers as they walk away. He leads her towards an old oak shelf, littered with different types and styles of books. Izumi knew reading was Minato's hobby, but his collection was impressive.

"Kaa-chan buys me some new ones whenever she gets a chance," He admits, and Izumi randomly picks one up with mild-interest.

"The Little Ninja?"

"Kaa-chan used to read it to me," Minato explained. "It's about a little ninja that grows into a strong ninja even though no one believes in him or his adventurous stories."

"It sounds..." What is a word in a child's vocabulary? "fun." Minato doesn't seem to notice her lapse, and beckons her to look at a few another book.

"I had to buy this with my own money," He admits. "It was about ALL the original founders of Konoha. It was harder to read, but look"-he shuffles around in the old, yellowing pages and a musk fills the air. "-I found something you might like." He skims through the relatively long page, and his finger is put onto a single name.

"Look, one of the founders was Hyuga Izumi. Like you."

Izumi looked at the page, and there was her name. She almost blanched, and a strange emotions swelled inside of her. "Is there anything else on " Me. "her?"

Minato shook his head cutely, "No. Madara Uchiha and Izumi Hyuga don't have pages in the book."

Izumi frowned; she knew Madara could have done something to be erased from history, but herself too? That was wrong.

Miho came out with a tray of dango, "Here's the snacks." She set it down on a low table in front of an old sofa that looked quite comfortable. Izumi nodded in thanks, and the woman came up behind them to look at the shelf.

"I won't lie, I didn't make them myself. I can only cook so much..." She trailed off, and Minato paled at her expression. Izumi looked curious as to what hid in her innocent expression..

"Izumi-chan," She snatched a book from the shelf. "How would you to see all of Minnie's baby pictures?"

Wordlessly, Izumi picked up another album and followed her to the couch while a blushing Minato looked betrayed at her actions. Miho smiled delivishly, patting the seat next to her as she cracked open the first book.

...

The stay at the small Namikaze Apartment was short- two and a half hours at most- yet Izumi could say it felt like less than a moment.

It was enjoyable there; the warmth of a happy family spreading into her veins, and when Mother arrived to pick her up, Izumi was disappointed. She left obedinatly, and it was nearing sundown as they approached the Hyuga Compound.

As they walked, Izumi felt that same unease that she felt first time she encountered the man with the x-shaped scar, and the entire area around her was filled with an invisable threat. Mother felt it to, seeing as she sped up and both girls had their Byakugan on, but there was no one there.

They arrived home, Mother muttering about how horrible her team behaved and Izumi listening with a million things on her mind.

 _Why did her name not have anything in that book? Why did no one mention her? Could she go back to Minato's house? What was ailing Miho? Why was Mother no longer around as much? Who was X-Scar Man?_

With a heavy heart, she went to her room and froze when she saw something left neatly on her window.

A very familiar pebble.

...

 _ **Can someone please explain what Brah and Coolio mean? I saw them on the internet, but don't understand what they mean. Are they like slang or...?**_

 _ **Anyway, I know this is brief and not too well written, but it sooo late and I am busy. I was just trying to produce something for you all to read.**_

 _ **I am also considering a time-skip, but this is my first story and I do not when to do so. I was thinking maybe to Kakashi's birth or something...I have no idea. Anyway review and enjoy!**_


	13. Chapter 13

Her leg taps against the soft-feather bed in a erratic, unsettling manor and the Byakugan is prominent on her distressed face.

He had been in her house, in her room. That man was taunting her. The peddle rolls around in her palm. His message had been clear enough.

 _I can see you, but you can no longer see me._

He was playing a dangerous game with her, and he didn't know who he was playing with, or he wouldn't be attempting this puzzle.

Izumi had to admit, she didn't really understand those around her. She didn't understand men or women, kuso, she didn't even understand children very well at all either (they were just a little more confusing than adults), but she was sure she really understood something a little easier. Games were childish, but they worked. She was always skilled at mind-games such as Shogi and her favorite; puzzles.

She liked to see people themselves and the universe as a large game. Usually, the pieces were skrewed and not even there, but it could be gradually and patiently fitted together a piece at a time, like an infinite puzzle.

She played these gamed until there were no more straight edges to look for and the end was soon in sight, and even then she would take it apart and piece it together again in a way that would benefit her in her life.

Every puzzle is intended to be solved, even if some are simply to test your limits. Izumi was fine with that, because she will win this.

 _Alright, sir, let's play._

She tosses the pebble out the window, and frowns when the sound of it hitting the ground never meets her ears.

...

Tadashi hummed against his hands as he slid his cousin her card, and Izumi's nose wrinkled in prominent distaste fot the aged deck, chipped and ripped. It felt rough in her hands, and to her annoyance; he was winning.

Her cousin's face is slightly bloated, and his curse seal is clearly new, and burned a dark blue into his forehead. "You look bad," He murmured, flicking his chin up as he looked at his own cards.

"I just need to sleep," Izumi says slowly wincing as her voice sounded more like a plea, and she puts one of her cards down against his, waiting for his next move.

"Yeah, you do, considering I'm here." Tadashi let out a huff of breath, and shook his head slowly. "Are you forgetting I'm dead?"

Izumi frowned, wincing as she was easily beaten by her more intelligant cousin. "And? It's a dream."

"Nah, more like a hallucination." Tadashi replied hotly, "You need to see a familiar face. I'm dead, and you need help."

"Oh? And what could possibly be wrong?"

"Seperation anxiety?" Tadashi suggested mildly, throwing down a card. He craned his neck to see her's but Izumi moved her hands quickly.

"I'm not a child. I'm fine with seperation, you know."

"Never said you were, not once. But you're properly attatched to them; those new parents of yours. You are in a new place, well not new, but you aren't use to be being there." He hands out two more of the yellowing cards. "Right Izumiko?"

He laughed at the way her face lit up in a red flush, and her temper was beginning to spark dangerously. Izumi had forgotten Tadashi remembered her full name, and she doubted anyone else knew it. She didn't remember it half the time and if it hadn't been for the small, tiny 'ko' added to the end of her name on her recorded Birth Stone that was made by her former mother, then it never would have never existed.

She clenched the cards tighter in her grip. "If I wanted a familiar face, I would have gotten Natsu. Obviously, you're a ghost." Her tongue was as sharp as any kunai; her voice, steel.

Tadashi made a loud clicking noise. "Tsk, that is a lie. Because I'm just a figment of your mind, Izumiko, and I know this. Natsu would have sparked up old feelings, y'know those little regrets and pieces of shame that you push away to the darkest corner of your brain. But me? I've always been the loveable big brother that always forgave you. That's why you choose me.

"I guess I should wish you a happy birthday, y'know. It is a big day for you. What 84? You're lucky. My sisters didn't even live past 4, and how old was yours?"

Chakra burned into the card she held, turning it into dust that floated onto the redwood table and Tadashi snickered. "Got you worked up, huh? You wasted a perfectly good Queen, you know. This deck is old; how am I going to replace that?"

He chuckled as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "How did you know that was a queen?" She wondered. Tadashi grinned a boyish smile.

"Because I'm a part of you. A piece of a memory; a figment of your imagination, Izumiko." He tapped her head, and she reached for his hand to assure herself he wasn't leaving. He felt real, he talked like the real one did.

"You are sleeping," says Tadashi after a quiet moment. "You shouldn't be, not now. It's too important, Izumiko, wake up."

Izumi does as she is told, her eyelids slide open quickly, and her pale eyes dart around the darkness for any signs of something being wrong. She looks over and the clock on the dresser in front of his bed tells her it's 2:35 AM. This isn't her bed; no this is the guest bedroom of the Hatake Family. This isn't the first time she's been here overnight. Mother's squad has been getting C-Rank missions and Father is always gone. There are...conflicts going on between borders.

She groaned softly, and stared at the clock. She went to bed at 1:00 AM and needed to be up by 5:00 AM because Sakumo had to get to the bakery right when it opened to get Mirai her usual baked treats, lest she be cranky. Usually, he takes her along with him so she can avoid her pregnant hormones. She sighs, and prays to her usual goddess, then takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, and tries to coax herself back to sleep. Of course that results in tossing and turning as her dream attached itself to her psych again, and she groans.

The cursed clock tells her it's 2:41 AM. Her dreams usually consisted of simpler times such as distance memories of her mother singing, but never Tadashi. Her cousin never haunted her dreams, and she was slight happy she couldn't be fall asleep again. She couldn't deal with him trying to spark up her anger or make pointed comments about her fiery temper.

She could not handle him calling her Izumiko or taunting her. Most importantly, she couldn't deal with his "Happy Birthday". She turns 85 on the 15th of September (which, according to the clock, started three hours ago), and no one will celebrate that with her. As far as her parents are concerned, her birthday is (as they think it has always been) 22nd of April, and Izumi can't really correct them about this seeing as she can't really come out and say "Yeah, I'm just another girl in your child's body, so can we celebrate my birthday?" Besides, it's not like she sees them enough for that anyway. They disappeared into their own worlds around the time they realized Izumi didn't need them (even if she sort of did), and she didn't wish to bother those two.

Her restless mind forced her to toss and turn, uncomfortable. She was tired and yet not tired, and it left her frustrated.

Her eyes darted to the door in confusion as she heard footsteps and a light flickered on in the hallways, coming in through the cracks in the door frame. Her door bursts open, and she feigns sleep as Sakumo rushed over to her.

"Izumi-chan," He shook her, and sleepily Izumi opened her eyes (had she been this good in actress in her past life?), and stared up at him. He sat her up, hastily moving things around as he sought out her kimono. Not even allowing her to get out of her night-dress, he clumsily gets the kimono on, but leaves it untied as he pulls her.

"Looks like Kuwa is ready to come out. Hurry and go get your shoes, okay?" Sakumo rushes out, almost tripping up in his efforts to get the girl out of her room.

"Kama," Izumi corrects, but her mind is racing from her sleep-deprivation and the fact Mirai is giving birth as they spoke, and she rushes out the door just as quickly as the couple (nearly forgetting her shoes).

She admits afterwards it was a little shameful to be running around the village at 3 in the morning with an obi-less, untied kimono flapping around her. But just a little.

...

Izumi stared blearily at the TV (this had to be her favorite creation from this modern era) in the hospital waiting room. She was slouched against the corner of an uncomfortable vinyl sofa, her entire body twisted awkwardly into a semi-comfortable position as she stares at the TV with bored amusement.

In the entire Maternity Waiting Room, she and the receptionist were the only ones out here and she stared boredly at the screen, her head leaning leisurely against the hard back of the sofa. It had been a couple of hours, and a few other couples had rushed in with Izumi making a mental note of them all.

Lady in Red Gown's husband looked really, really scared and pale, so Izumi wished him the best. However, Curly-Haired Woman was screeching in pain, so she sent more well-wishes her way instead. She wasn't sure what was on at this point in time, and she is thinking that's it's some Soap Opera that comes on almost everyday in the early morning. As far as she knows on the show, Daisuke's father (who is a Shinobi himself) killed the Feudal Lord's wife, who was the mother of Princess Ayame. Daisuke wanted to marry Ayame or something, and it's a really weird drama.

Her hand clutched an old piece of scrap paper that a nice nurse had given her to doodle on, and she was going over names for the baby.

 _Enoki_

 _Kuwa_

 _Botan_

 _Kama_

 _Pakku_

So far, that was what was on the paper and only one seemed to fit okay, and she did it mostly out of boredom.

The only expierence Izumi had with this kind of stuff was when her nephew was born, but his birth had been a breeze. She had sat outside the birthing chambers, maybe 45 minutes after she was alerted Natsu was having the baby. The tiny thing slid right out and was really healthy too. But that had taken a very small amount of her day, and this had been going on for almost five hours. Sakumo had TRIED to wait with Izumi, but as his wife shrieked for him, he had to go. Not that Izumi blamed him; she would have done the same thing if it had been her sister or mother.

Izumi closes up on herself, because apparently it is okay to leave it at -32 Degrees in a Maternity Ward, not to mention the cold autumn air outside. She shivered, setting her paper down.

"You look like a piece of crap right now. Actually, a very feminine piece of crap, but crap none the less." Tadashi notes, and Izumi jumps and her gaze flies towards the equally fake-cushion chair near her. Her cousin is sprawled in it lazily, and he gives her a foxy grin that she remembers from her childhood.

Her heart skips a beat in utter terror.

"Are you all right?" asks Tadashi narrowing his pale eyes. "You look like you've seen a ghost,"

"You're dead." Izumi whispers softly, her lips barely moving, but he heard.

"Yes," agrees Tadashi before leaning towards her. "But I'm not in charge of your hallucinations, am I? This is on you for falling asleep then waking up too fast. It's called a waking nightmare. Besides, I like our talks." He pouts, and Izumi blinks once and he is gone. Her body jolts like she just woke up, and she checks the ticking clock to find a minute had passed.

Confusion laced her body, and maybe she does have insomnia like she had thought. In the past week, Izumi calculates she's had about 15 hours of sleep. She'll have to check out a few books on this, because she doubts that this is normal.

"Izumi-san?"

She looks up to a kind-faced nurse smiling, holding the wooden door open with one hand. "Your parents wish to see you. They have someone they want you to meet,"

Izumi doesn't correct the nurse, simply jumps to her feets and pads after her down the sterile-smelling hallway. Evertything is clean and there is an abundance of medicines that people would have murdered for in her day.

She follows the woman back down another hall to the room. The nurse knocks lightly on the door, after a murmured response, she peeks her head around, then pushes it open gently. She lets Izumi in before shutting it behind her, and the purple-haired girl looks around.

Mirai is flushed, her face a deep red and glistening with sweat. She is ensconced in a nest of blankets, and in her arms is a tightly wrapped bundle. Sakumo is holding one hand like it hurts, but is beaming none the less.

"Izumi-chan," she says softly. "Would you like to meet Kakashi-chan?"

Kakashi...Izumi mouths the word, testing it on her tongue and determining that she likes it.

Slowly, she walks over to Mirai's side and looks down into the bundle, and Sakumo lifts her onto the bed, where Mirai holds Kakashi closer.

Kakashi slightly red, and wrinkled like a scrawny egg. He's got soft tuffs of silver hair and he looks upset in a baby-sort of way. By far, he is the ugliest and most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire lives.

"You know you'll still be staying with us," Sakumo told her. "You know you'll have to help us look after him. He needs a big sister, and I think a Hyuga will be the finest we can get." He smiles at her.

"A big sister?"

"Hai," Mirai confirms. "A big sister. Will you promise to protect him, teach him, and help him with everything?" She is looking feverish and sickly, but Izumi doesn't mention that, staying focused on baby Kakashi as he makes a gurgling noise.

"Okay," She agrees. "A big sister."

Izumi is sure Kami is messing with her, seeing as Kakashi was born on her original birthday, but who is she to question it?

What's one more person on her list of precious people? From her brief encounter with him, she doubts she'll be able to seperate herself from the little boy anyway.

...

 _ **I had planned on posting this on September 15th for Kakashi's birthday...but...well...you see...**_

 _ **This old woman needed help with her bags so I rushed to her aid, only to find out she wanted to talk to her family so desperately on Facetime, but had no laptop. So I just had to lend her mine for a few days, but her black cat touched it and I had to wait a few hours so it would get its good luck back. Then, I got lost on the path of life...**_


	14. Chapter 14

Mirai sighed tiredly for the millionth time, and Izumi barely looked over towards her, already set up with her own task. It was obvious that the elder women was tired, seeing as Kakashi had a wild temper and cried all night. During the day, he was as pleasant as could be, but at night a demon possessed him worse than any Bijuu, and he would cry madly. Izumi had tried talking to the baby, she reasoned to give him 20 ryo if he just stopped his loud wails, but the baby didn't budge even a little.

Of course, the offer had been a jest, but Izumi had hoped money would shut him up just a little. Mirai was cooking lunch and Izumi was doing the same. She was standing around the same stove as Mirai, a little pan just barely boiling.

She blew on it gently, then quickly turning off the stove and doing her best to balance on the stool she was standing on. It took a little chakra, but she did manage to get the milk safely into the bottle from the pan.

"Izumi," Sakumo called out, excitement lacing his tone just a bit. Izumi frowned, her entire body telling her something was WRONG. He came into the kitchen, out of breath, but his eyes spoke wonders. They held too much pride and he was grinning between the pants.

"Kakashi smiled at me two whole times!" He exclaimed while Mirai made a soft noise in the back of her throat, her own smile appearing.

"Izumi, it looks like he's beaten you by two points. You had the five point boost from the laugh earlier, but he got these smiles and a giggle."

"Yeah. Two entire times." Sakumo boasted, not expecting the Hyuga to launch herself at him hard enough to bring him to the floor, and he stared up at her in shock.

Izumi glared down at him icy gaze. "Cheater!" She proclaimed. "He loves me more. Tell me what you did."

Sakumo laughed nervously from under her. "I didn't cheat."

There was a competition going between the two over the affections of the baby currently napping in his bedroom. On Kakashi's first day home, it had began as a non-verbal thing, just fighting over glances. Soon enough, they began talling points and numbering everything Kakashi did with a point system. It was a large battle, and Mirai had cautiously stayed the hell out of it, seeing as everytime someone got a point, the other person was ready for a death battle. Izumi admitted this war was childish, but it was unavoidable. Kakashi loved her more, and it was in her right to absolutely obilterate her competition.

Izumi stood up as tall as possible, looming over his fallen form with a single hand placed on her hip. He stared up at her in fear, and Izumi determined she looked like her old-self right then; all the clan leader she once had been. Strong and bold.

"Did. You. Cheat?" She repeated, her Byakugan slowly budging to life, and she raised an eyebrow. Sakumo looked away, finding the bottoms of the cabinets very interesting all of a sudden. Izumi leaned down closer, "Did you?"

Her fingers fell into a family two-digit form above his neck. There is a lot to fear when it came to Hyuga members. A tap is all Izumi needs to kill a man. A mere tap to a particular tenketsu and the opposing shinobi dies, but in this case, Izumi didn't need death as a threat. Certain points could be struck in the neck area that could cause someone to become paralyzed, but also for them to not be able to sleep.

Sakumo gets no sleep as it is, and if he were to get striked then all those little naps he does get would disappear. It would destroy him. He knows it and she does to, so his choice is simple.

He needs sleep.

"Yes. Just one time." He admits shamefully. Mirai lets out a strangled laugh at the scene, but says nothing else about the situation.

"And what did you do?"

"Clones. But it just this one time!" he defended. Izumi's frown deepened at his words. It was against one of the rules they set in place.

 _1\. No tickling for laughs or giggles, it has to be from presence alone._

 _2\. Mirai is non-biased, and therefore any glances with her involved do not count._

 _3\. Clones are not allowed._

 _4\. Lying is not allowed._

 _5\. No killing each other._

Sakumo stands up with his head down, while Izumi glowered at him. "I get a turn with clones then it is back to our usual rules."

"You can only use one clone like I did." Sakumo retorted. "To be fair."

"You cheated first! I can use-

"No, you can't use more-"

"Shut up-"

"I-"

Mirai sighed again for the millionth and one time, and turned off the stove. She determined it would be easier to let them brawl it out while she got some much needed sleep.

...

"He's so cute!" She gushed. "His cheeks are so red, and he loves hiding his face in my hair."

"So," Juncho smacked her gum. "You ever going to NOT talk about that kid?" The caused Izumi to look aghst in shock, her entire body jolting in the effort not to mockingly fall to the floor.

"Of course not. Kakashi is, I swear on Kami, the best child in this world." Izumi bragged once more, and Juncho rolled her eyes while Minato gave her a smile.

"Maybe he'll be as smart as you are with you doting on him. Look at this, I studied for weeks and I am just exceeding a little bit." Juncho glared at her paper in disdain for the numbers written there while Izumi just sighed.

Izumi and Minato's mid-term exam scores are three standard deviations above their class' average. Hiromi was just above average, like Juncho. Everyone knew that Minato and her were the two genius children of the class. Minato had never even opened his text book. He was just that brilliant, and Izumi wholeheartedly believed that he would do something bigger than himself. A poor boy into a Hokage; it seemed to fit quiet nicely.

"We're just...good at studying." Izumi says quietly, mediating around her former arrogance, even if comment ripped around her head at what she could say. Juncho snorts, pulling her hair out of its loose tie, and began tying it up higher.

"Please. You two are brilliant."

"I'm not too smart." Minato modestly replied, but his blue eyes shining with happiness. Izumi gave them both a reassuring gaze, and Juncho beamed.

Minato made a worried noise. "At least exams are over. You look better now, Izumi-chan." He says cautiously, but Izumi shrugged her shoulders like she didn't know what he meant even though it was clear that she did.

Izumi's insomnia was a constant presence in her life. She isn't sure if it's shellshock or just a spirtual energy rift, but it is there. Thankfully, Kakashi was helping her with that issue. His constant presence was tiring. From his cries to Izumi taking care of him for hours, it wore her down. She was so tired, she slept for hours at a time, and she was getting better. Her eyes no longer possessed their dark circles under them nor did her hair look as greasy.

The best part, however, of her new found slumber was the fact that a certain cousin was not around to plague her with his presence. Tadashi (her dear hallucination) stopped coming. He stopped taunting her with past mistakes. He stopped calling her Izumiko and asking why she never stuck to her true name. He stopped asking why she activated his seal that one time. He was gone and it made life easier.

"So, Minato, did you ask?" Juncho asked hastily, dropping the subject at hand for one of a different value.

Minato nodded. "Hai. Kaa-chan said I could come over. Izumi?"

"Hai, hai." Izumi hadn't particularly asked if she could, but it wasn't like her new parents were around enough to notice. Sakumo and Mirai were busy with the baby, while Mother and Father were busy with their own lives. Izumi was a grown woman; why did she need their permission?

Juncho beamed, "Great." Her hands waved around excitedly. "My party is at noon, okay?"

Izumi nodded her agreement in unison with Minato. "I'll be there Saturday. I need a chance to escape my clan. My grandmother is coming Tuesday. Did you know I have a grandmother? I did not."

To put it simply, Izumi was less than pleased to have a winter vacation from school, as it meant more time with her family. She could not stand to be apart from Kakashi, but of course her parents decided to take a short break to spend part of this break with her. It was maddening, and Izumi was also displeased with meeting her grandmother. Why in Kami's name would this woman mean anything to her?

While Minato seemed geniuinely confused, Juncho nodded, sympathetic of the situation. She herself knew the burdens of being of an upper class, seeing as she was cousin to the heir of the Akimichi, and was in line for leadership.

Juncho beamed. "They pop out of no where!" She explained, more to Minato than anyone else. "Clans are full of members that are like 18th cousins or something. I have like 20 people claiming to be my aunties and plently of kids calling me Onee-chan. You, my friend, are lucky." She pats his shoulder and looks back down at her test scores, willing them with her eyes to change.

Izumi understood. She did seem to have 100 aunts and uncles, seeing as people appear from no where. The entire clan is very distant direct blood, so everyone is related via a comman ancestor. She and Juncho had the same relationship with their clan (she had been born cousin of the heir), but no one called her Onee-chan. The Hyuga seemed to tend to keep anyone in her age group away from her, but she understood that too.

They scorned her. She knew it. She scorned her for her strength, for her title as genius and prodigy. Izumi was different. She was unnatural. No one should be so strange, they whispered as they did as she was a baby. She is abnormal. Poor Noboru, Poor Asuka...They have such a strange child. Too strong for her age. Too smart. She was wrong. She was like an oni.

The clan didn't want her around their children. That was fine by her. She had all the people she needed.

The final bell rung its mundane ding, and Izumi glanced outside to see Oka standing there, waiting patiently for her. She stood slowly admist the rushing children and began to gather her things.

...

Izumi stuck her lip out in boredom as the she activated her Byakugan, the veins around her lilac eyes sticking out. She got into the ready stance of the Hyuga Gentle Step style, with her open palm towards her opponent.

"Must I?" Questioned the Hyuga heir as he stared up at Mother with resentment in his tone, and Izumi had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at him. Mother sighed quietly.

"Your father asked of me to train you better." Mother reasoned. "You need a sparring partner, and Housei-sama has demanded that you have someone other than me." She motioned towards the annoyed girl standing ready to fight. Hiashi's frown deepened, and the eleven year old looked as stubborn as the Shodai when he made Konoha.

"What about Hizashi? I can spar with my brother!"

"I-" Mother's breath hitched, and her eyes hardened. "He is busy and I am your sensei."

"But she's a girl. I don't want to hurt her."

Hiashi (in a Tadashi-like manner) aimed directly for her gender. Izumi smiled at him. "Mama I can't fight him! He's a boy! Girls can hurt boys." She spoke childishly, pushing all the buttons that used to set her cousin off. Hiashi seemed to grow agitated with each word that came out of her mouth, and his veins budged as he glared at the girl.

He attacked swiftly, obvious arrogant in his movements. He swung at her, his yukata sleeve fluttering as his opponent leisurely moved her head out of the way, and aimed with the grace of a dancer towards his sides with swift jabs. He grunted as one blow of chakra burned the skin of his chest, but rolled out of the way.

Izumi leapt away as he charged towards her again, and he was slightly off balance from the burn of the slight blow. She swiftly dodged the surge of chakra he had aimed at her with his palm, and she flipped backwards in the air to get a distance. His chakra points and vital pathways danced in her eyes, and something made her want to attack with all her might. Izumi was sorely lacking in the training department due to her lack of a partner, and this was the first real fight she had had for a good while. She took a step back and got into a defensive stance.

"Is this all the challenge I get?" She questioned mockingly. With a cry Hiashi charged at his cousin, aiming a blow at her chest. It caused a smile to tug at her lips, as she easily avoided the onslaught of quickly aimed attacks. His hand swung out for her face only to meet air. His palm turned to the right as he attacked again, and the girl had already spun to the left. The only sounds in the lavish Hyuga compound consisted of the fluttering of sleeves and frustrated grunts.

"Will you stop moving?" The irritated boy snarled, and it made her smile at his break in character. Hyuga did not get irritated nor did they have any emotion outside of a blank mask of integrity.

Izumi spun, dodging his next attack, and sought quickly to counterattack with a sweep of her her arms, careful to avoid his other palm. He hadn't expected this, and had little room to actually duck, but he was swift enough to manage to get away with only her palm grazing the tips of his dark hair. He swept his leg out in a low spin kick, hoping to knock the smaller ninja off her feet, but Izumi simply jumped up. She used his position to her advantage, and kicked her leg out when he leaped to get back onto his feet. Her kick sent him sprawling, and Izumi's eyes widened, overly excited about to prospect of using more danger blows against him.

She smirked at him, bringing her hand up to beckon him at her as he stood up. He moved to strike her in the chest, using his superior strength to his advantage. His palm hit the ground where she had been standing, causing the floor of the dojo to burst with shards of wood and splinters. Izumi dodged his next attack, however she spun around him quickly, attacking his back.

The palm of her hand just barely grazed his sides before he moved again, but he winced at the pain seeping into the chakra burn. Izumi smirked at him, and while her blow didn't have enough energy to stop the flow of chakra in that area, it would sting like hell and slow him down. Izumi struck out with his arm, forcing Hiashi to retreat in his steps.

Jūken was, to all extents, a dance. Despite how it looks, there is no marked rhythm to the fighting style and the movements lacked the strength and power expected from a technique that can kill from a single touch. It took skill that most did not possess to graceful and effectively move from on posture to another smoothly. Everything involving Jūken was fluid, smooth, like a dance. It was beautiful ballet that both sparring partner knew the parts of, and that was the basics of their movements. Izumi suspected the taijutsu style was created to be a dance, seeing as the clan itself is rumored to be started by a woman. The great-great-great-great granddaughter of some Rabbit Goddess that Izumi had heard about. Kasuya? Kagura? She didn't know nor did she care. The only goddess that Izumi acknowledged was Her Holiness, The Lady Godess Amaterasu.

He dove at her, and stopped as his lip quivered in emotion. The taunting smirk on Hiashi's face completely dissolved into a grimance as he felt the effects of the blow that Izumi got to his ribs. Izumi watched in mild shock. She hadn't used that much chakra...had she?

Hiashi hid his weakness, and quickly got back into an offensive stance and charged her, but this time more cautious of her flying hands. He rained down upon in a series of kicks, strikes, and chakra blasts to attempt to get any type of blow on her, but she was too quick. She easily dodged each one successively, and Hiashi was frustrated. Each of his attacks were met with an open palm or a kick in defense. Izumi was slightly disappointed by this boy; the Hyuga heir. His footwork had vastly decayed as time went on, and Izumi had noticed that the kata being taught to these people were different from what it was in her day.

Izumi had been taught the Jūho. Gentle Step.

It seemed that the Hyuga had adapted differently by believing that Gentle Fist was the parent style when in fact it was created as an easier version of Gentle Step. Jūho was all that Izumi had been taught and while she was skilled in both, she realized that it was messing with the balance of the clan kata. The reason that Gentle Fist was so sloppy was because it was not as refined as Gentle Step. Because the clan had never been trained in the delicate and difficult steps of Jūho, they will never be able to fully grasp the strength of the Hyuga legacy and Izumi is ashamed of that.

To Izumi, Hiashi was clumsy on his feet, very sloppy in the way that he moved, and Izumi wondered how he would react to gentle step. He plunges forward, and it takes her all of three seconds to finish.

"Fenikkususutoraiku."

Phoenix Strike. The ultimate Jūho technique, but of course Izumi used almost no chakra to create it in her palms. The dark purple phoenix did not even form, just chakra and she strikes down on Hiashi. He moves into a Rotation that Izumi breaks through and at the last moment her chakra flow stops and she settles for a plain punch to the face, leaving him on the floor winded and disgraced.

"So," Izumi chirped in the voice reserved for Tadashi. "What were you saying about girls?" She leaned down at him with a wry smile, and Hiashi just grunted, looking away.

...

Their house smells of scented candles, while the rest of the area consisted of masterful composure of shoji screens and calligraphy hung on the walls. Everything is repainted and scrubbed, and the servants are tired. Oka had placed flowers on small tables that Izumi knew were just for show. They were there to symbolize wealth and prosperity. They were overly large and colored to show off the fact they could afford to use money on extravegant things.

Along the walls are beautiful painted scrolls where the images come to life. Delicate scriptures line the sides while dragons fly and goddesses and gods flaunt their holy glory. Everything was polished to the point of Izumi's reflection bouncing from the floor to her eyes, and she ponders if she could eat off of the floor.

Even she had been utterly scrubbed with waters of lavender and rose petals, so if she had a new skin, that was not her fault. Her own has been peeled away by the scrubbing hands of Oka.

Her entire body was clean and scented while her hair was tied up in a lovely manner. They had cut away parts and hid white under purple to achieve one of the most complicated hairstyles that Izumi knows of, well the second most complicated.

The maru mage was a tedious style that involved yanking all of Izumi's hair back using wax and many, many pins. Her purple locks were threaded through a large comb called a bincho, which was skillfully placed into the back of her hair (it hurt quite a bit), to spread it out behind her ears. Izumi had never adopted this style, but a few of her servants had and she remembers that there was a special type of pillow designed to preserve this hairdo, but Izumi couldn't recall its name.

The hairstyle itself emphasised the forehead as the Hyuga clan was solely based upon whether or not you were marked. While Izumi didn't have the Curse Seal, she did possess a strange vertical line slashed down her forehead, looking strangely like a closed eye that was turned sideways. It wasn't too fatal a flaw, but Izumi wasn't quite she liked it being presented and all. Her kimono was plain, only light blue silk with a highly designed obi, and stitched petals flowing from the bottom up.

If anything, Izumi looked like a doll; pretty and poised. Mother stood with her own kimono on, but her hair was not nearly as well-done as her daughter's was, seeing as her indigo hair was in a simple bun. She looked very displeased, but also very happy.

Father bit his lip trying to calm his apprehension, and he looked at the door from the sitting area where he and Izumi dwelled. Mother was off in the kitchen, elegantly creating dinner for the occasion.

A curt knock startles the awkward silence that followed, and Oka jumped up to answer the door. She and Seishiro lived in a joint house at the back of Izumi's since they directly served the family. She hurried away, her soft woven-sandals hitting the wooden flooring in a serious of quiet thumps.

Father's face become serious, and he looks more regal as he stands up to meet his guest. Izumi stands too, following after him. The newcomer she sees down the corridor is a was a tall, thin, severe-looking woman, standing tall as if she herself is clan leader. She moved in an unhurried, regal way, with a quiet dignity around her. One the leading factors of Izumi's notice was that she was one of the tallest women that she had ever seen. She stood at a firm 6 feet, and Izumi was aghst with shock. The Hyuga women were not known for being tall, instead they were known for fertility.

The tallest women that Izumi knew of was her, who died at at a firm 5'11.

She was very different from Mother, who was small and petite. Her face was round with intelligant, sharp eyes and she had very fair skin and lustrous blue hair with a few grey streaks that were down in an elaborate fashion.

Her bangs and front hair were pulled back and up, tied with a small silk rbbon. Another ribbon secured the long hair behind the back in an elegant manner that still showed her unmarked forehead. It was a style only her sister Natsu every used.

She spoke in a warm soprano that had turned sharp. "Noboru-san." She greets, yet her voice is curt. Cold. It is as if she did not approve of him as her daughter's groom, nor the father of her child. It was a forced pleasantry that had turned sour.

"Hibana-sama." He responded kindly to her, despite her coldness towards him. He stepped aside to let her pass, and she moved forward to examine Izumi, staring her down with a blank face that her grandaughter easily matched.

"Honorable Grandmother." Izumi speaks softly, but it is heard. She never breaks eye contact, and it is a battle of dominance that she cannot lose.

It is Lady Hibana that breaks eye contact, her pale orbs darting to Father. "I see you taught her manners. You have done...something well." It is not a compliment. "Her forehead is high, that means good fertility. An engagement to Hiashi-boy would be fitting. She is a little short, but her skin is unblemished and her eyes are intelligant. Yes, she could be the clan matriarchal." Her grandmother has high ambitions, and pride to serve it well.

But Izumi was 100% sure that Hiashi would not marry her, seeing as every sparring session that they had resulted in his defeat. Besides, Hiromi was getting engaged to him if rumors are true.

"She is only five, Hibana-sama." Father notes mildly, keeping his cool despite the hidden distaste in his tone. Lady Hibana nods slowly, understandingly.

"Yes." There is protest in her voice. She turns her attentions away from him, looking past him. "Where is my daughter?"

"Here, Mother," called Mother from the kitchen, and she moves into the corridor with Oka in tow (she had gotten scared and abandoned ship), and she gave a genuine smile. "Izumi, sweetie, come to Kaachan."

"Hai, Kaachan." She intones, moving towards her and wrapping her arms around the woman in a babyish manner that did not befit a 85 year old. She wondered if Lady Hibana was as old as she, then decided against it. She looked too young.

"Dinner is ready, Mother. Izumi, baby, please go sit at the table." Mother commands, rubbing her back, and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. Lady Hibana made a noise, and shook her head.

"She cannot sit at table with those clothes." She interjected. "A child of her bloodline should never eat in her day kimono. You servant," Hibana points to Oka, who stares at her feet nervously. "change my grandchild into a night yukata for her meal."

Izumi frowns, because she used to do this when she was a child. The would constantly dress and redress her all through the day because she was clan heiress. Why must she do so now?

"What do you waiting for? Go!" She said authoritatively as Oka hesitated, and Izumi frowned at her tone, and she beamed.

"Yes, Oka-neechan!" She chirped. "Let's change."

As she turned to give Lady Hibana an icy, cold glare, and a pleasant smirk at the appauled face that she possessed.

...

Dinner was tense, and in Izumi's opinion, it was too much. They kneeled on their finest, softest zabuton and the table waa set.

There was chicken teriyaki, berkshire pork cutlet, katsu-don, deep fried oysters, assorted fresh raw fish on rice, boiled salmon, fried and buttered shrimp, saba shioyaki, fried bean curd, and even nabeyaki udon. She kind of just stared at it in distaste, and only ate the shrimp seeing as that was one of her favorite foods. It was way too much! They usually didn't have this fancy of a dinner, and Lady Hibana and Mother spoke quietly from their place at the table.

Izumi had been changed into a purple yukata with longer sleeves to represent the fact that she was a child and umarried. She had been less than pleased when Hibana ordered Oka out like a dog, and it took all of her former patience to keep quiet and not verbal degrade her grandmother.

She wanted to be with Kakashi and play with him, or even feed him or change him. She could be eating sweets with Mirai or even training with Sakumo. She could be with Miho and Minato or eating at Juncho's parent's resturant, but no she was here.

"I hear that you've let my granddaughter attend the Academy." Lady Hibana said after she finished chewing, and Mother nods quickly.

"Yes. She'd doing exceedingly well. She is top of her class and kunoichi of the years. They've even offered to graduate her within another year." Mother brags, sighing thoughfully because Izumi was her whole world and the purple-haired girl knew it.

Hibana made a strangled sound. "With civilian children? Someone of her rank? And she addresses the help so...so..."

"Familiarly? Perhaps that's because I care for my friends. They're not just servants." was Izumi's mild-mannered answer and Lady Hibana gasped, looking offended.

"Children are to be seen, not heard!" Lady Hibana hissed, turning towards Mother. "How did you manage to ruin a child like this? This little girl is of a royal bloodline and she has no respect! My grandmother, Amateratsu bless her soul, would have been ashamed of her. She was blessed with my Grand-Aunt's name and she is so disrespectful," The older woman sneers at her as if she has swallowed a lemon, and Izumi beams back at her, because damnit she _hates this old hag._

"Not this again..." Father groaned into his hands, and focused solely on his food, and refused to listen Hibana's insulted rabbles.

Mother set her Plum Wine onto the table harshly. "Mother we are distantly related to a Hyuga clan leader. We are not of any good blood. Izumi is only in line for leadership because Hizashi was branded. Please do not bring up your grandmother again. Please." She says the last part pleadingly, but of course Hibana hears none of that.

"My mother was the daughter of a Clan Head, and my brother was the former clan head!" Hibana explained. "They understood the different between Branch and Main, and my grandmother made sure of that. Lady Amaterasu help my grandchild."

 _'At least she honors the right god.'_ Izumi thought distantly. Her temper got the best of her, and she was one to hold a grudge over anything.

The words leaves her lips before she can stop them. "Honorable Grandmother, if you would be so kind as to stop bringing dead relatives into it. I highly doubt we are related to the former clan leaders. Even if we are, they are dead." Well, she was a clan leader, but that was besides the point right about now. She didn't like Lady Hibana and at this point, Lady Hibana didn't like her.

"How dare you!" The old woman looked so offended.

"Izumi, baby, don't-"

"Asuka-koi, just eat your dinner and let our daughter handle your witch- I mean mother."

"My grandmother raised me." The old woman asserted. "Nana Natsu didn't have to, but she did! You will respect this clan and its tradtions."

Izumi froze, "Natsu?"

"Yes. My grandmother was the Clan Leader, Lady Natsu. You have her sister's name and yet you disrepect you're great-great-great-aunt. Those two were leaders and princesses, and you just speak so...so..." Lady Hibana loses her words, just as Izumi does as thoughts whirled around, and suddenly the old woman and young girl on their feet glaring at each other, while her parents continue their meal with concern lacing their faces.

"Tradition has always said that Branch is below us and our servants. It is best you learn that now," She storms out with all the grace of a swan, despite her hurried steps and slightly-clenched fists.

That was Natsu's granddaughter. Her grandmother was Natsu's grandchild. She was not only Natsu's great-great-great grandchild, she was her own great-great-great niece. How the hell did that even...?

Only she would be the one that Kami constantly messed with, and she leisurely tossed herself back onto the soft cushions, and felt like she would soon have a headache. She wondered if she could stay with Minato or maybe visit Kakashi for the rest of the day, because she just fucked everything and this family was too much to handle.

"So," Father spoke first. "I believe that went well."

...

 _ **A little late, but better late than never. Yeah, this is filler. The Time Skip is next chapter, but I have exams so it may be late. You may also notice that Hiashi is older than Minato. With ages, I am a little off cannon. Hiashi is 41 when Part 1 is released, but Minato (if he lived) would only have been 36. So some ages are right, but some are wrong. On a happier note, I'm learning Russian which will be my 4th language. I feel dominant. Enjoy!**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Okay, I know, I know, this is not the Time Skip. My sister is learning English too, so she and I both write parts of a chapter and lace it together (if you've noticed that our writing styles may differ a little in the chapters), so she tells me when her parts are done. She did not tell me about the part with the secret person, so I didn't post it, thinking we had scrapped the idea. Turns our she wrote it, but didn't send it. So I didn't want to waste it so I rewrote the entire thing into a chapter. It is short, but it is an idea I've had for a while. Enjoy.**_

...

It is two weeks after the Lady Hibana incident when he comes to her. Mother is with her team and Father is out on a mission as always. She normally would be with Kakashi, but Mirai is ill, resting in her home with Seishiro tending to her, as Izumi sent him there. Despite his tough-guy attitude, the man was a great medic and Mirai deserved the best so it was only her and Oka.

Izumi is meditating, balancing her chakra around her to blend with the items around her when Oka knocks on her door, and it barely disturbs her at all.

"Izumi-sama, you have a guest-" the man cuts her off by pushing past her, and shutting the bedroom door and it is then that her her eyes flicker up to meet his, and she remains on the floor as he goes towards her bed.

The old man was walking with a grimance, and Izumi assumed his body ached. He clutched at his walking-stick with cloudy, white eyes that were far from blind. It was easy to see that time had chiselled away at his face, and it was as crinkly as faded parchment, and it was as easy to read as parchment. She saw the strength of his character and memories of love and hapoiness tinged with sadness. He appeared sluggardly and spiritless, with weary eyes that still had a desire to live as bright as a lantern.

His hair was very long and lush with a tint of eggplant purple and a salt/pepper comb, and he had crows feet under his eyes.

He didn't say much, just slowly sat down on the bed and watched her. He didn't give a name and Izumi didn't offer one. They stared at each other and his eyes dug into her own, trying to help her remember him. It was strange, maybe when she was younger they had been introduced because her memory was not the best, despite being an adult in her baby days.

He jerked his head to signal for her to continue, which she did. Her legs recrossed and she slowly went back into her mind, focused on the world around her instead.

Mediation is a perfect way for Izumi to let out her emotions, and to calm her head. She carries with her the burdens of the words of thousands of people and the memories of all her misfortunes from her past life.

In silent times of solitude and recollection, Izumi learns to be at peace with her own loneliness and home sickness, and she prefers this to the reality of the outside world. Sometimes, it feels like her past was all a dream while other times it feels like this reality is an illusion of an upset mind and she is in the past.

She stays in her position for almost an hour, her concentration never wavering, even when his chakra spikes into killer-intent because she knows he is testing her will power.

The floor creaks in an eerie tone, and she barelt flinched when his cane comes flying towards her face, but stops midway. She looks up to see a wry smile, and he shakes his head at her.

He still doesn't introduce himself and there is a strange tugging at her heart that makes her feel like she knows him from somewhere, but she can't put her finger on it.

He leaves, his cane thumping on the floor. Izumi wanted to offer her assistance, but he doesn't look like he wants any so she does.

...

He returns tomorrow to the same thing, but Izumi is in the kitchen that time. She is eating rice balls and he sits down across from her, watching her like a hawk.

His eyes tell a sad story, and he begs for her to recongnize him, and she wants to, just to help him. But she does not know who this old man is, and her memories do not help her. They her nothing of an older man that she knows, so she does what any good host would do. She slides him rice balls on a china plate, then has Oka serve him a light tea to help him settle in. He does not say much, he does not complain because of the free food, nor does he thank her. He gives a curt nod as a way of showing his gratefulness.

"You have beautiful hair." He says politely, but there is a hidden ploy under his words. Still, Izumi does not know what to say to that, so she thanks him with a pleased, fake smile.

He finishes his snack just as she does, which takes a long while because he is old and her body still rejects too much food. He takes not of how she eats, and how she moves, while she takes note of his eyes and how they sparkle. She wonders who the hell he is, but it is rude of a Hyuga to deny any guest room and board of the highest hospitality. So she offers to allow him to stay for dinner. He says no curtly, still making it a priority to keep eye contact in hopes that those former pearls will speak to her.

She sees nothing, so he leaves like he came; on the wind.

...

That night she wakes up screaming because she dreams of Natsu giving birth again and the fear that laced her because her sister was just so young when she gave birth and she spends the next few hours on her hands and knees.

She bows to the Lady Goddess Amaterasu for guidance, and recites the prayers she knows by heart. Perhaps her dream is because she has been away from her precious Kakashi too long, or perhaps her insomnia is coming back.

She forces herself back to bed because she refuses to have Tadashi pop back up at any moment. She REFUSES.

...

The third time he comes, she is reading an older scroll, grasping concepts that are too advanced for someone of her age. She offers him tea, then a scroll to read and they both sit in a comfortable silence. This time, she refused to meet his desperate eyes, and he doesn't complain about that nor tempt her with words to move her gaze.

He crouches down next to her on floor, and she hears the painful crack of his bones and he lets out a soft moan at the pain as he hits the floor. She wishes to question him, but her mind is on her scroll and Mirai (who has a horrid fever), and the girl is determined to figure out a cream to lower it in this old teachings. She faintly remembers Natsu and her aunt making this ice cold ointment that they rubbed onto her skin whenever she or the wounded got fevers. It always worked, so goes through these archive scrolls.

Sakumo has stopped taking missions to help his ailing wife and care for their child. Seishiro is a constant presence in their lives, and he stays to keep her fever moderately low and her health up. He makes treatments and heals her sinus. It works for now, but Izumi feels awkward about it.

The old man speaks for the second time. "My hair was the same as your own. Some say I inherited it from my aunt." He says, rubbing his unbearded chin, and he looks at her curiously, with a trembling look.

Izumi kept her voice low. "I inherited it from an great-great-great aunt." She says, wondering if he knows who she is talking about. He says nothing, just shrugs, but he understands.

...

She has a dream about her nephew, who is only a delicate little baby, and he cries and cries and she cannot help him. He is bald and small and he whimpers with pain, but she cannot help him nor Natsu.

He turns into Kakashi, who howls his ungodly wail, while Izumi is powerless to save his mother. She shrieks and shrieks and curse Kami and all the gods. She fights and she cries, but none of her attemps work.

She wakes up and realizes her dreams (more like nightmares) only started with the apperance of that man who does not give her a name, but she cannot be rude to him because it is against tradition.

...

The next time she sees his, she just stares. His hair is pulled back in a similiar manner to Lady Hibana, and she feels a tugging at her heart.

She fears she will get another headache, so she decides not to meditate, but her mind nags her with recognition. Izumi knows him from somewhere. Where?

She sits on the couch in the sitting room watching her favorite Soap Opera (it was her dirty little secret, but she did love these shows), and he sat alongside her. Even as Daisuke was proposing to Ayame and Lady Benzen was about to murder Ayame's father for causing her miscarriage, Izumi did not seem to be able to concentrate.

She looked over. His eyes plead with her like always, and his wrinkled face looks so much older. His shoulders are slumped and he looks ready to give up whatever he has been doing with her, but something clicks inside of her.

"I know you." She tells him.

He smiles for the first time in front of her before he leaves like a leaf on the wind.

...

The door is knocked on, and Izumi opens it. The old man motions her to follow him, and she does. They take a different route then she is used to, but they still end up in the main courtyard before they slip a dark hallway.

The hallway is the one that leads to her small garden, and she smiles because there is her lone, marble bench. The garden was beautiful and the sun washes the garden with a golden glow, spring overtaking winter. Blossoms swayed in the breeze among other blooms that Izumi was familiar with, and red petals fluttered around her face.

He sits down, and so does she. "You know me."

"I do. But I do not."

He laughs bitterly. "My niece came to me, spouting out harsh words about her disrespectful granddaughter. Do you know what I said? I told her that her opinion sounded like my aunt's and she stormed away. I listen to rumors. I have heard about you."

Izumi nods, "Heard what?" She inquired, but the old man simply stared at his cane for a moment. He smiled a genuine, boyish grin that was weathered with age.

"I have heard of your brilliance; of how intelligant you are, and how regal you have been since birth. You sounded like someone I knew from my childhood. I came to see it with my own eyes." His hand clenched white on the top of his cherrywood cane, and tears burned his eyes. "I never thought it possible..."

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Izumi demands, patience running thin with his loose words, but the man grinned again.

"Come now, Obachan. Let us not play games."

Izumi's blood ran cold as she made a choked noise at his words.

"Y-You called me..."

"Auntie. Yes, that's right." The old, old man- no, her nephew Chōrō said. Izumi stared at him, trying not to cry, but it resulted in her biting her lower lip, because damnit he's all grown up and has one foot in the grave.

"How did you know?"

"How could I possibly forget my favorite aunt?"

"I was your only aunt."

"And I your only and favorite nephew. Mother always did know that her elder sister couldn't just die from cancer. It couldn't just kill her ambitious soul." He noted mildly, but Izumi leaps to her feet.

"Natsu! What happened to Natsu?"

Chōrō smiled sadly. "You really have been left in the dark. It must be torture to never know the fate of your family. I understand." He wrapped an arm around, and she pulled him despite her being much smaller and him much more frail than before. It hurts, dear Kami it hurts because she missed his entire life. She missed Natsu's life and she missed the birth of her nieces.

He let go of her. "I will tell you of what happened after your death if you explain to me how you are here." He reasoned, but Izumi sighed, her heart and mind heavy with discontent.

"I do not know. I remember floating and suddenly, I was in the body of a baby. If only I knew," She murmured, waiting for the onslaught of queations from the Hyuga elder, but it is then that she remembers that has not only looks older, but is older. He has matured from the 5 year old little boy that she remembers.

"Mother became Clan Head two days after your death. She had a giant memorial erected in your honor alongside this garden. She missed you. I missed you. Her husband, as a Taketori, could not take leadership as most husbands do, but Father was content." He began, and Izumi and he both fought back tears unbefitting of former clan heads. "She was still as gentle as before, and cared deeply for each of her members. You helped by having fixed the clan's famine and poverty. She had my sister Hanami a few years later. But she was overcome by grief for you, being as she lost the only mother that she had ever known. She told us stories of her glorious sister growing up. I remembered you, though.

"I wanted so much to be like you. But Mother only sometimes told those tales. The rest of the time she tore you out of history. No one uttered your name, nor were you allowed to be published in any books. She didn't want to be reminded of you. When the First Great Shinobi War broke out, she went to the front lines to serve with Shodaime-sama, and she died defending him and the village. He died a year later, but he did remember her sacrifice. He had a memorial stone placed in the training grounds and Mother's name is the first on it. She lived a good life, Obasan. She was strong and beautiful." He touched his faded purple hair before slowly touching her own, and it is then that Izumi realized that she died at 22. He was in his 70s, and he was above her now. He knew more and was more.

He wiped her face off, and she didn't even know she had been crying. "Your secret is safe with me, Obasan. You were doting to me as a child. I remember how you bought me the finest silks and had the Shodai himself make me wooden kunai to practice with. I served as the student of the Senju brothers. I lived a happy life too, and it seems that you are not as lucky." He paused then, before kneeling over as a harsh cough wracked his body, and Izumi was up resting her hands on her old nephew's back to sooth him.

She remembers this feeling from her sickly days, and then she remembers he is no longer a child, but an old man and great-grandfather.

Izumi sits back down next to him, and he stares at her before touching her with a shaky hand. "I've wanted to ask you something." His hand is stained red with blood and she pauses to stare at it, and fresh tears flow, but she says nothing because he has accepted his fate.

Her nephew hesitates, but the childish question had escaped his lips anyway, despite his age and widom. "Does it hurt?"

"Dying?" Izumi said surprised, but then shs looks at the cane and the blood-stained hand and realized her happiness would be short lived. So she answered his question.

"Not at all. It's like falling asleep, actually much faster and easier."


	16. Chapter 17

_**Years Later**_

She is taller now, much taller, no longer the small insignificant height she had once been. She is tall like before with silky white hair that flows to her ankles, and it is always tied in an elaborate way that makes her seem very feminine when in fact, she can and _WILL_ snap anyone's arm without regret.

Izumi was older now, easily holding her own against anyone who dared stand in her way (even Minato), her own nephew had trained her himself. It was not that she needed his help, she knew how to fight. She just needed him to make this body more functional, even if it meant hard work.

The time had passed by as if in a fairy tale, and for her, it was one. Things were better than they had ever been, espcially with her precious nephew by her side. They talked everyday, sitting on that marble bench that she had dragged him to as a baby, and they spoke of everything and anything.

He told her of modern culture, of the strange things he had seen and the battles he had fought in, and what was proper and what was not. He told her of the changes in the clan from her death to now.

She told him of her adventures. Izumi could tell stories for hours of things she had seen, like when the original Damiyo in her time poured tea on her and offered to marry _all 6_ of his sons to her in return for her forgiveness. Or when she was pinned down by 87 enemy ninja with only four kunai and some how she made it out of there alive, a broken arm the only testiment that it happened at all.

He was no longer the dreamy 5 year old she remembered, but he was still the same. The old man still listened to her stories with anticipation and still interrupted her to ask questions. It was always awkward in a way. For him to be more than she, for him to be wiser because he was almost 60 years older than she was when she died.

They never spoke of Natsu, she was a forbidden topic between the two, and they both accepted this as the law, and the other had the right to leave if they thought she was too far into the conversation.

Her family was happy, especially Lady Hibana, to see her around someone of his rank, and her snobby grand niece still refused to speak to her plainly. She had a mind to put Lady Hibana in her place, but she did not.

She wasn't a child, so she refused petty arguements between an old hag and herself, who knew more and has seen more, and she wouldn't lower herself to her level.

The only real difficulty was convincing Kakashi, who was getting very tall, to call her something more appropriate.

She insisted on getting him to call her Onee-chan, which had failed horribly, seeing as the little brat _loved_ taunting her (he's a toddler, how does he know how to do that?)

Every time he saw her, he bellowed out a loud shriek of "Zoom-Zoom" which was because his little toddler mind didn't quite understand there were more parts of her name that the middle. She had tried and tried to get him to call her that. Every now and then she was rewarded with his crude version of Nee-chan resulted in "ee-tan" which was better than nothing, she supposed.

She loved the boy despite herself, and she wasn't even a little ashamed of it being so clearly broadcasted to anyone who saw her around the boy. She loved the boy and he loved her.

Minato was the top of the class (Izumi failed a few courses to get him there), and Miho was a doting woman. She still calls Izumi her " _futute daughter in law_ " even though what Izumi feels for Minato is what any friend feels for a best friend. Juncho is second in the class, because Izumi was tired of being the best all the time. She was lazy during class these days, but her friend was not. Juncho was confident as could be, presenting projects in a clear voice and joking about her size. Izumi had visited her father's resturant, and died at the taste. Needless to say, it was usually filled to the brim with the Hyuga clan, and Juncho was happy.

Everyone was happy, just like in all the fairy tales and stories she's heard.

 _But all good things come to an end._

...

"Shh. Kakashi, be quiet."

She told the little boy. He wiggled in her arms, looking at the hallway that was seperating himself and his dearly beloved mother. "Want Kaa-san," The toddler proclaimed.

"Kakashi. Quiet," She tells him firmly, prompting his to shut up, and guilt pricks her heart, choking her. He hides his little face in her long hair, and she stares down the dark hall, and Izumi fights off another bout of emotion, keeping her eyes firmly on the scartch by the door that got there when Mirai threw a frying pan at Sakumo during her pregnancy.

She was not a child. She didn't require emotions; she was a shinobi. Emotions were a rarity in the world of the shinobi, and the burning under her eyelids is a sign that she has weakened with age. She is too happy, and this blow has destroyed her. Her heart bleeds with emotions she didn't know she had.

Kakashi hummed in distaste from his place in her arms, and he wiggled. A loud cry erupted from the room, making both toddler and Hyuga jump as they stared at the door, a clear thump indicating someone had tossed their self on the floor in sorrow.

"Mama in there," The boy insisted, pointing towards the door in anger, wiggling more aggressively. "Let go, Zoom-Zoom. Let go!"

Blind rage bubbled into her suddenly, rage she didn't even know she possessed. " _She's gone!_ Your mother isn't in the room, Kakashi! Stop!"

Her last cry echoes around the room, but her message gets across to the boy, whose lip trembles with a mix and tumble of different emotions. "She is," He whispers, despite himself. Izumi stares at the door where muffled cries drift out, and she looks at him, with his face still tangled in her hair; Izumi finally breaks down, anger seeping out of her into a cold weariness.

"She's not, Kakashi. She's not. Your Mama; she left for a long while."

"She no leave me." He admonished. "Zoom is wrong."

"No, Kakashi, Zoom isn't wrong. You'll see her again!" She assured. "But, not...not for a long, long time." His eyes stared into her pale ones with unshed tears lining the dark orbs, and Izumi forces a smile as she stares into Mirai's face; her nose is on red, chubby cheeks and her love flowed through his veins.

"How long?" He asked meekly. "Want Mama." Izumi shuts her eyes to hide her tears from the boy, her lips set into a grim lone.

"A while."

He looks ready to protest again, but he's smart and the pain on Izumi's usually confident face is enough to keep him quiet, and the white-haired girl is grateful for his silence.

 _ **How could she tell a little boy he wouldn't see his mother again until his death?**_

...

It was a rare occasion that a traditional funeral be erected for a civilian, and these days, it was very uncommon.

"She liked tradition." Was all Sakumo had told her, and he hadn't said much after that. The wake was the worst blow of it all.

It followed all customs, and Izumi was _sure_ she'd have been proud of it. It was like one of the wakes that she had been to in her past life, except this time her heart clenched, and she kept her mouth firmly shut through out. She was in a casket, her inky black hair in soft curls around her cheeks (she had cut it recently into a short style), and her lips a soft red like she had enjoyed coloring them in life.

As was tradition, she was dressed in a pure white kimono with the dress itself crossed right over left, and inside the coffin, there are items of which the young woman was fond of. Izumi stared blankly at the photos set into the coffin; some had Izumi alongside Kakashi, a few family portraits, and a couple of pictures of her genin squad.

They are here for a common cause, the tsuya; the passing the night. Izumi's white hair is pulled into a tight bun, her hair curled and she dresses in a black kimono, standing alongside Sakumo in the front row while prayers are said.

Kakashi is not at the wake; Izumi wouldn't allow it. She was his age when she lost her first mother and the scarring of seeing the body during the wake was etched into her memory. She had fought everyone to allow Kakashi to stay at the Hyuga's during the funeral. He was safe with Oka.

She stands next to Sakumo because she is family. She is the sister of their son, and stands above even her own parents (who knew her years before Izumi), and she keeps her stare blank through out all of the prayers. They do not pray to Lady Goddess Amaterasu, and she is mildly ashamed of that. She prays for Mirai to be forgiven, since she didn't respect the Lady Goddess before death, instead following a more meditation-based approach.

After final prayers, she hands him a silver and black envelope with his name neatly written on the front. Inside is 3000 ryo, enough to hold the family over until Sakumo is up for a mission. Condolence money isn't a rarity, and he accepts it with a distant look in his eyes.

"Izumi." Mother calls as she moves to retrieve her shoes, " _Stay_."

Izumi doesn't reply, only bobs her head. Mother and Father leave (her father looks ready to cry again), and she stays with Sakumo.

It isn't uncommon for relatives to stay for a vigil. The last shinobi leaves and he collapses onto the floor in front of her casket. He gives Izumi a weary glance, dark eyes filled with tears that would be shed when he thought she wasn't watching.

"You...aren't even crying." He spoke sorrowfully. "This is the first death you've seen? _Why aren't you crying?_ " His voice is that of a broken man, and he phrased it as a question.

Izumi just stares, and Sakumo shatters in front of her, clinging to her like a child who has lost his favorite toy; however she couldn't comfort him. No one had ever comforted her before. She didn't know what to do.

Izumi could break, tear, and destroy the human body. She could destroy and break.

Izumi was never made for this type of life, and perhaps she would never be fit for the wholesome feelings of family. She wasn't made for mothers and fathers and comforting. She was made for slitting throats and turning chakra networks into shreds.

 _She was made for the shadows like she did once in her past life._

Izumi wasn't made for her new life. A ragged breath caught her attention and she stares into dark eyes; black orbs that just knew she was hiding something from them.

She could barely hear his whisper, "Where do I go from here?" He begged, pleading for an answer. Izumi wants to tell him not to ask, because she doesn't know. Her entire lives had been bloody messes.

"You stay strong for Kakashi," She responds uncertainly.

"How?"

Izumi gains confidence, speaking the words she needed years ago when she was orphaned and had a little sister to take care of, "You fight for your boy. He can't loose another parent. It will hurt.. He needs support. He may be smart for his very young age, but he needs parental love."

He didn't reply so she continued."Do it for Mirai if not for your son or yourself. He needs you to be strong. Don't let Mirai down, understand? No- wait- you won't let her down. _I won't let you._ "

Sakumo collapsed again in front of the casket, and Izumi squeezed his shoulder. She gave a silent prayer to Mirai to keep both her son and husband safe and happy.

...

He can't bear to see Kakashi for the first few days after. He leaves him at Izumi's house. In that time, she doesn't even shed a tear.

She keeps Sakumo fed and clothed. She keeps his bills paid. Izumi takes on the role of guardian to the gray-haired Hatake.

She said she won't let him fuck up his life.

Izumi wasn't lying.

...

Miho Namikaze was a brilliant woman. She always had been, and most likely always would be. She had been a jonin at 18, and had the sharpest eyes of the entire squad for a while. It wasn't too difficult to see the utter distress on the face of her son's friend's face. It had been easy enough to get Minato-kun to fish out the information. She didn't know this Mrs. Hatake, but she knew depression when she saw it.

They invited her for a meal. The tall girl stared blankly at the wall all of dinner, only responding when Minato spoke to her, and only then, her movements were forced, and she was nearly fazed by everything.

"Minato, baby, do you mind giving us girl time?" Miho asked kindly to her precious son, and the smart boy nodded. He seemed eager to escape the dark cloud in the room, but also worried over the girl. She briefly wondered if his female friend and herself had given him too much feminine sensitivity.

Her son flies out of the room in a yellow flash, leaving only his un-pushed in chair as reminder he had been there at all.

"Izumi, sweetheart, you know I think of you as a daughter, right?"

The white haired girl nodded slowly. It was true. Miho had the girl come over enough to be her own daughter.

"I need you to look me in the eyes. Sometimes, you need to let go of control. Not even Gods can keep in their emotions."

It takes a few moments, but those pale eyes do move to meet Miho's and she wants to convay all of her emotions to her with a stare.

Izumi let out a deep breath as soon as she felt her eyes burn, and she couldn't describe the pain that she was feeling at that moment. She felt like she would burst any minute, and Miho just wrapped her arms around her. She felt something she had never felt before, and her body trembled with silent sobs, despite the fact no tears were shed and no sounds were made.

Those pale eyes that had always been so strong and for the three years she had known her, she had never seem this child cry. Miho She almost forgot that she was human, seeing as she seemed immortal. Minato gained so much strength and knowledge from her, and it was hard to remember she was more than just a figure.

Izumi clung to her, on the verge of breaking, but still needing some sort of reassurance. It was like she had never gotten a chance to have emotions. Warm drops fell onto Miho's blouse-dress, and finally, the dam broke.

All of a sudden, Izumi couldn't hold back her feelinge, and it was time to let go. _She was imperfectly human._

"It's okay, Izumi-chan," Miho whispered as she sobbed quietly into her neck, looking smaller than she really was, and she gently rubbed circles into her back, comforting her the best she could. No one should have to be this strong.

No one was perfect. Not even Izumi.

...

It took almost a hour before the young Hyuga girl pulled away from the blonde, and she let out a pitiful cry as she wiped her tears on a linen cloth that the woman had provided.

She felt pathetic, "I'm sorry." She apologized. "Please don't tell anyone,"

Miho had only smiled, shaking her head in a way that made it seem like the sun had blown away the rain. She felt some sort of relief, like she had finally gotten rid of a painful burden she had been carrying on her shoulders, but there was still a painful thorn in her heart, one that Izumi identified as a longing.

It was strange. It wasn't longing perhaps for a person, but for a feeling.

...

Two days after Kakashi goes home, Izumi still gets money from her nephew to pay his bills. He's better, she realizes, much better.

Sakumo smiles sometimes now, and he thinks of taking missions. Mirai is still in his house. Her apron in still by the door, her clothes in the closet. He gives her Mirai's make-up for when she's older. Kakashi will have no use for it, he tells her softly.

He loves his son, and he is willing to live (not just have a life, but live) for the boy, and Izumi is pleased. Mother takes her genin on a mission in Grass Country, while Father (he is still grieving his lost 'sister') is on a mission as an escort near Konami Town in the land of Rice Paddies. She kicked some dirt up, the bag of make-up heavy on her arm, and she turned past Juncho's parent's resturant towards her compound. A chill was in the air, and Izumi wondered for a moment, if Mirai could feel the breeze too.

She mentally went over what herbs would be best if she got a cold from the soft breeze, and then shook her head. Izumi had spent months and months in the scrolls and books of the clan to find different cures for sickness and fever for Mirai. She could, honestly, say that a medic had nothing on her, seeing as she knew enough medicines by heart to put them to shame.

Izumi made a final move towards the gates, using chakra to jump onto the top of the gates to avoid the guards, and she slipped into the darkness, the only light illuminating from the windows near by where a lamp here or lantern there burned. She opened the door, confusion lighting up on her face when she realized, Oka's chakra was faint and disrupted.

There were only two occasions that made chakra feel likes that and the only one that Izumi could think of was _Genjutsu_. Silently, she slid the door open, slipping into her house like the wind.

From the faint light of the moon, she saw Oka's fallen form om the floor, her eyes open in a dulled grey color from whatever jutsu she was under, and Izumi stared in hot rage at that, because only a jonin could perform this sort of technique. She slid a kunai from her sleeve, her Byakugan activating just as the lights came bursting to life, and she glowered at what she saw.

A single sharingan eye stared passively at her, and her eyes darted to the familiar X-Scar she hasn't seen in two years.

Two men in animal masks find their way behind her, and she gave them a dark glare, standing protectively in front of her fallen servant.

"Miss Hyuga," The man said with a sneering smile forming. " _We need to talk._ "

...

 **This is because I love you all. And no matter what you see on TV, there is honestly nothing to do at the hospital and they get mad when you made the gloves into balloons. Please excuse any mistakes, I'm half-asleep and barely know what I wrote myself... Enjoy and review.**


	17. Chapter 18

Lightning flashed along the edges of the darkened heavens- the deities pounding against the earth with their mighty force- while the rains propelled towards the grounds with frightening strength. The noise was the only sound in the room as they stared each other down.

Izumi had seen those eyes before, and that was what made her freeze. She can see them from when she was young, after Kazou's death, and when Hiroto ruled her life. She remembered those eyes, the ones that had seen the world, yet still only saw what they wanted.

She remembers them from when she was object to be married off to ths highest bidder, whoever had most power and influence within the warring world, and she remembers that some were older men. She remembers the way they stared at her, like she was something to be controlled, like something valuable that needed to be theirs.

Of course, this time is different. It wasn't political control that he wanted from her, it wasn't a marriage, but something darker. It was the need for the sharpest weapon to use in battle, and he was staring right at _her_.

She keeps her face blank, stepping over Oka's body and moving closer. "I can tell you are not an Uchiha. Where did you steal _that_ from?" The older man stared back with a raised eyebrow, steeled eyes trying to sink their way into her soul, but she stands strong against him, her own sharp eyes battling his.

"How do you know I stole it?" He inquired, "Perhaps it was a gift?" He mocked, and she gave him a chilled look.

Her lips tugged up into a smile, "Uchiha would not willingly give up what is percieved to be their greatest asset." She intoned, then her voice rose a little, _"I would know_."

His sharingan whirled around in his eye, and she gives him a meek look. "How terrible of me. I forgot my manners! I should have given my guest something to drink," She mocked, and gave him a sorrowful tip of the head, not willing to bow her pride to him. Despite her new position, her former haughtiness is still a consequence of her former pride, and remains with her.

She will not bow to this man, and she smiles expertly at the two masked men behind her, whose hands rest upon their weapons, and she almost pities the fate they will recieve for attacking and subduing one of her favorites, "It's only polite to remove your masks when in the home of another," She mentions mildly amused by the ideaology that they possess the upper hand in this situation, and neither makes a move to acknowledge her words.

The older man limps forward slightly, having seen better days and offers her a cold stare. "I didn't come for tea nor to view the manners that the Hyuga are so famous for, but instead I've come for a...better purpose."

Izumi's lips stay in their position, and she looks every bit the polite host she is pretending to be. "But what would that be? I just want my Mommy! You're scaring me!" She gives a quiet sob to prove her point.

He let out a gruff laugh, "Please. I already know you are not a child. Let's not play games, girl." At this, Izumi's back straightened, and she gave him a dark stare.

"Surely you underdstand where you are, sir." Her voice is barely an amused whisper. "We are standing in the middle of one of the most dangerous clans in this side of the world. I need only scream and the entire clan will rush in here. And to see Oka on the floor and yourself harrasing a young girl? It wouldn't look too kindly got you, Mister...?"

"Danzo," He replies, not afraid to even mention his name to her, and her eyes light up.

"Danzo, huh?" She repeats. "Danzo! Where have I heard of such a silly name?" It is then that a grin plays onto her lips, and she beams at him with a knowing stare, using on hand to hide his upper face, and she laughs at her own discovery.

"You're Dāku's son!" Izumi beams, "I remember now! Dāku Shimura!"

It wasn't a lie, Izumi had been alive long enough to meet some of the fellow clan heads, and impressively enough, she even got to go to a few different celebrations. She thinks she remembers going to the festival honoring Dāku's newborn son (males were always prized above females), and she can see his face in parts of Danzo's, but she also sees Lady Shimura.

Her memories are whisps now, and if not for her constant reminders in this life, they almost feel like dreams. She isn't sure how accurate her thoughts are, but by the way his face darkened, she's pretty sure that she's right.

"I didn't come to discuss my own heritage."

"Perhaps not. You came to hurt my maid, bully me in submission with your bubbling idiots, and have a strong kunoichi at your disposal. But, as I said before, this is a very dangerous clan. I suggest you choose your thoughts and actions wisely before I tear your chakra network to shreds."

There isn't a threat in her voice. No, it was a promise, and it was like the Kiss of Death. Danzo doesn't respond to her insults of his men, nor does he speak when she swears his death. He nods to his men (some 15 years older than her), and they dive towards her as fast as the lightning outside.

It happens so quickly that Izumi doesn't know what happens, all she sees is silver glints as thunder cried out, and she moves.

A tanto swings at her, but misses completely because she is faster, and she lands on the ground behind the ANBU. They are skilled, she'd give them that. He swings again, and she barely notices it, as she moves away like in a dance.

The second ANBU, well, he surprised her. Instead of a blade, he goes straight into attacking her chakra network, and it takes her a few moments to understand that he is a Hyuga. His palm glazes her face because she is shocked at the revelation, but she feels _no_ pity for traitors against the clan, so her palm meets his flesh in a deafening blow that sends the ANBU flying towards the wall as his neck snapped like chopsticks against her soft hands in a way familiar to her.

It takes his partner no time to recooperate before he goes for a lethal blow, only for Izumi to have been waiting on him with a chakra-shredding attack that rips apart all of the precious tissues that keep him alive, and it stings her heart to realize that she killed not one- but two - men in cold blood without so much as a flinch.

Her pale eyes dart back towards Danzo, but he is gone.

All that is left is a pebble.

Izumi can't help the bile that gags her when she realized what she did. But for the first time in a long time, she feels strangely at home.

It makes her even sicker.

...

Sakumo arrives two hours after the home invasion when the rain cleared, leaving only darkened skies and flooded yards. He come in with a nice yell of "Kakashi stole your scarf to use as a mask again! I brought it back."

He takes 2 minutes to examine the bodies and young girl sitting in a puddle of men's blood before he gets his shinobi instinct back into proper place. He starts cleaning up, knowing the home like the back of his hand. He pulls out supplies, and slids Oka into a closet to wake up later after the mess is gone. He stares at her with sad eyes, mourning replaced with tempered sorrow for her.

Sakumo doesn't ask questions- he doesn't need to- as he has seen into Izumi's guts. He knows what she's made of and what makes her. He knows that he doesn't want to know what happened, because it wont't be what he wants to hear.

 _So he just helps her hide the bodies._

...

She feels remorse for what she did and that is new. Never in all of Izumi's years did she ever feel...guilty for the deaths of others, instead she normally felt a terrifying numbness.

It always came so easily to her. It was in her fingers. The ripping of flesh and the breaking of bones were etched into her fingertips like it was apart of her DNA. Remorse was never apart of her, but it was now.

Izumi likes to think of it as progress to become better than her former self. Maybe, in her past life, she would have joined with Dāku's son. It would have fit her best to stay in the shadows, hidden from the world, and doing what she had learned for childhood. But back then, she had no reason not to fade in blackness. This time is different.

She has people. Hiromi, Minato, Juncho, Kakashi... They are her people. She doesn't need to be a murder anymore to be someone. She has people who see her as special with the glory of battle and blood.

Izumi is quiet when she rolls the pebble around in her hand, barely paying attention to what Toshi-sensei says as Minato took not only his own notes, but hers as well. He nudged her, his voice quiet. "I have a surprise."

Izumi contained her smile, keeping her face serious for the boy's sake. "Oh? Let me guess..." She hums in her 'deep thought' as she taps a single digit against her chin, faked curiousity lining her face.

"Let me see here; You've been elected for the position of _Hokage_?" She estimated thoughtfully, saracastic shock floating into her tone. Minato's bright face darkened a bit, and he gives her a pointed stare.

"I _will_ be," He confirms for her. "one day. But no, not now. Sensei told me that one of the great sannin is interested in me. Me! Of all the kids of the class, Jiraiya-sama was looking at me." He paused, looking at her face. "I mean, I'm sure they would look at you, too-"

"Minato, I'm happy for you." Izumi cuts in. "Besides, I'm not into the whole 'great sannin' thing everyone is gushing about. I'd prefer any regular sensei. Though, I wouldn't tell Juncho. She'd most likely crush you. You know how she wants Tsunade-Hime to train her."

Minato pales, having been on the receiving end of Juncho's temper tantrums. He agreed with her almost immediately. The only one to not face Juncho's wrath was Izumi herself because the Akimichi had a deep seeded respect and partial fear of the Hyuga.

He remains frozen in his seat, trembling as he stared across the room at Juncho (who was oblivious to the terror she was inflicting upon the boy), and Izumi decides to use a method that works on Hiashi and Hizashi.

She leans over, giving Minato a quick peck on the cheek to jolt him out of his daze, and he visablly jumps (she didn't know that was a color, no one should be that red), and suddenly Toshi-sensei pauses, looking towards the door as a knock startled everyone.

His face was grim as a clean shaved man partially opens the door to speak in hushed tones to Toshi-sensei, and he looks towards the door. Almost instantly, she feels uneasy. Izumi's Byakugan activates to see what was outside.

Chakra floated around her vision and it felt like wind and sunshine, but it hid a darker secret. She stared ahead as a tomato-like girl entered the room, and all she hears is, " _My name is Uzumaki Kushina, -attebane!_ " before she sees the overwhelming chakra of a demom roaring back at her from the girl, and Izumi does what any young woman should do when she stares at the feared Kyuubi that gave _even Hashirama Senju_ trouble for the first time.

She promptly faints.

...

 _ **Over 70 comments! Merci beaucoup! And for you all dear, non-french speakers, it means thank you very much ;) Look, you just learned something. I would like to thank Seishin Kyokukuso (I butchered that name) for writing Whether They Knew It or Not. I thought it was cute and I thank you for writing a one shot using my characters. Thank you for asking my permission first, too.**_

 _ **I plan on updating a lot more now that my family issues are settled, but if you don't recall, I am French. Paris was just bombed, and I live not far from there. So, I will see what I can do. Sorry it was short, by the way.**_

 _ **Au revior**_


	18. Chapter 19

"I can _feel_ you glaring at me."

Izumi made a noise, her arms crossing. "If you feel me glaring, I am certain that she can feel you staring." She shot the girl a hot stare, before turning away, refusing to stoop to her level.

If Minato wanted to go make puppy dog eyes at that Uzumaki, then he should be allowed to do so. She wasn't stopping him. However, it wasn't her fault that she was glaring. It was her natural state, and damnit- why is he staring at _tomato head, again?_

"Minato!" She snapped, her hand jerking his arm to get his attention back. "Stop staring at her. That Uzumaki-"

"Her name is Kushina-"

"is nothing but trouble-"

"...really _pretty_ -"

"...with _ugly_ hair-"

"-and really _strong_ too..."

"... _horrible_ manners and her attempts at kunai-"

"Will both of you just shut up?" Juncho rages, and both friends shut up; Minato staring shyly at Kushina while Izumi shot her an irritated look. The Akimichi glared at them, "Jeez, will you two give it a rest over the new girl? She's not even all that new these days."

Izumi didn't say much after that, just shot the Tomato another glare before she stormed off, slamming the door open before Toshi-sensei could protest (not that he would, the Hyugas are not to be messed with). She heard Minato call after her, but the swing outside had it's own appeal, so she gave it a go.

She sat down on the freshly sanded wood, and tugged at the rough ropes, her temper destroying all of the improvements she's so carefully crafted into herself. Izumi always thought things out with the most efficent method possible. For her every action, there is a equal or stronger reaction.

Izumi is careful and kind and someone pleasant, but no- Tomato Head just had to ruin it for her.

Okay, so her anger wasn't all at Kushina, because admittedly Izumi had a bad reputation with Uzumakis in general.

It first started with the Red Sea of the Uzumaki Clan, also know as Mito Uzumaki (Izumi hopes to Lady Goddess Amaterasu, that that evil piece of...got a torturous death far, far from Konoha).

The red-haired witch had the gall, no the _audacity_ to punch her in the jaw in front of her own clan, and Izumi had to shamefully endure that humiliation for days because a Uzumaki nobody managed to bruise the living hell out of the Hyuga Queen in one strike.

Izumi, in her old lifetime, had exactly two sort of, kinda friends. Perhaps it was the fear of being alone again that forced her to hate the fact Kushina could steal Minato's attentions from her. Her deep, psychological terrors of isolation led to what she believes (she studied this at the library) to be a emotional attachment and need for those closest to her.

Izumi Hyuga has, in her life never feared anything. Except for this. Izumi can't be alone again. She can't. She couldn't. It would, in all definitions, destroy her. Minato belonged to her. Izumi refused to let his attentions and friendships stray to a foreigner. She was terrified of losing the first friend that she's ever had, because he's all she has.

Though, besides that, Kushina Uzumaki managed to shame her in another way. During a bout of anger at boys bullying her for her hair, she noticed Izumi stared at her hair for too long, and proceded to comment on how her hair was uglier.

That had caused a deep grudge in the older girl's book, because the hair itself was a touchy subject. It was no longer the beautiful and majestic purple it had once been, and instead fell in straight, silky waves of pure white that was strange to her. The comment had been a mistake on Kushina's part because she had made herself a _grievous_ mistake; she made an enemy of Izumi Hyuga.

Besides, she held the Kyuubi inside of her (even if Minato didn't know that) which could present itself with many problems. If they got married or dated or...had intercourse (she cringed) or even had a child. It was all dangerous and childhood relationships in the shinobi world usually lasted for life.

Izumi _couldn't_ risk Konoha for Minato's happiness. She couldn't despite the fact that Minato's happiness was her happiness.

Izumi glared at the ground, using her foot to kick the dirt, and then winced as it settled on her kimono. Her hand moved to wipe it off when someone grabbed her hand, and instinctively, Izumi swung.

"Hey-"

It was after she knocked the boy out that she realized it was the Uchiha Heir.

She punched Fugaku Uchiha.

 _Damnit._

...

"I'm sorry." She says sunnily.

The girl kindly held a piece of kimono to the bloody area that was once the Uchiha's nose, and he shot her a dark glare, jerking away from her touch.

"I just wanted to tell yer that yer were in my sw'ng." He replied nasily. "Dumb Hyuga."

The girl frowned, leaning towards him with raised eyebrows, and she pressed harder against his nose (he yelps in pain), and her voice conveyed her amusement. "Oh please, Uchiha. I thought you were a ninja. You couldn't even dodge my punch?" Her taunting smile sets him off.

"I am! I-I wasn't ready." The boy yelled in anger, "And just who are you anyway, you ugly beast?"

Where did _she_ get off taunting _him_? Fugaku wasn't the one who slammed his fist into someone else's face! He glared at the strange looking girl, who stared back at him with pale eyes.

"Ugly beast? I'm helping you stop the bleeding. Be grateful." She smiled. "I'm Izumi Hyuga."

Fugaku made a face (obviously not too keen acting the part of the emotionless Uchiha) as he stared at her, and she gave him another polite stare. She was strange and not too ugly, he'd give her that. Her complexion was chalky white with pale eyes and white hair. The only color came from a purple kimono thay gave her a darker look, making her skin seem paler. She looked like one of the ghosts Fugaku read about when he was younger, or one of those restless phantoms that walked among the living.

"Any particular reason you were going to the swing. I know you're not in the Academy..."

Fugaku made a noise at the back of his throat; something more in mind of a defiant growl. "Of course, I'm not in the Academy. I...I like this swing. I was here when it was first put up." He admitted grudgingly. "Besides, I'm picking up someone." The Hyuga, Izumi, stares at him for a few moments before nodding, seemingly not caring.

Fugaku didn't say that he ran here when his father got too overwhelming nor when he got tired of having to be heir of the Uchiha Clan. She wouldn't understand. No one ever did, because they didn't have expectations or responsiblities. They were free. He wasn't. He had to be great, and his only friend was this old tree and it's new swing because they didn't expect much out of him. But this kid wouldn't get it.

Izumi removed the cloth at last, discarding it on the ground as she stared at him defiantly, "I'm in the graduating class," She tells him firmly. "You don't need to stare at me like I'm a little child. I'm almost taller than you, anyway."

Fugaku grumbled, "No, you are not." He swatted her arm, and she just gave him a blank stare.

"I'm not graduating or I'm not taller? Ninja Handbook, page 2, third paragraph. Always give clear replies and orders. Specific replies are best."

He frowns deeper, "You are annoying," He stated plainly. She shook her head, her hair not even moving from its braid-bun. He wondered, briefly, if she really was a ghost.

Izumi stood up as the last bell rang, giving him a wink. "Look, now that school's out, you won't have to share the swing." Children poured out of the building, and the Hyuga frowned at a certain red head who came bolting out first (half tripping), and she smiled at a blond.

"See you around, U-chi-ha." She ran off to another student, giving a slight wave. Mikoto came up to him curiously.

"Oh. I see you met Hiromi's cousin, Izumi. I told you they sort of looked alike," She said as she looked at where his gaze fell on the other's retreating back.

Mikoto looked at his face, "Why is your nose swollen."

Fugaku _blushed_ , "I fell into a t-tree!"

 _I forgot I was mad at her! Cunning Hyuga!_

He looked back to yell, but she was gone.

...

"I'm glad to see you are still alive, Old Man."

Izumi stands behind Chōrō without so much of a knock, and she trots towards his soft, worn couch. She plops down and her nephew gives a roll of his white eyes.

"I feel as though you're making bets with my niece on when I will kick the bucket." He says wisely, and Izumi laughs a cheerful giggle.

"Oh please. Bets with Hibana? I'd rather _**die**_ myself."

She looks at what he's watching on his new TV curiously. Izumi recognized it immediately. "Ai no densetsu!"

It was her favorite soap opera, and she beamed at the screen. Her nephew let out a low laugh, a deep and raspy noise. "Yes. They are mostly reruns. I'm quite into them. I'm not sure what this episode is about or when the new ones are on, though. I haven't seen this season."

Izumi doesn't contain her excitement to share about this. "It's on every other weekday from 2 to 3." She flips onto her otherside, curling up to the older man as she pointed to the screen. "You saw up to season 6, right?"

"Yes. But I believe this is season 8."

"Alright. You missed this new character. That's Raiga of Toyo Town. Lady Benzen couldn't live with her life choices, so she tried to kill herself after her third miscarriage. She tried to throw herself from the castle, but a samurai caught her." She shared, and she went to say more when he interrupted her.

" _Not Benzen!_ And I thought samurai were forbidden there because of the Treaty of Murasaki." He said urgently, and Izumi nodded vigorously.

"Exactly! He was undercover, but didn't want her to die. He had too many skills, but weak chakra. Benzen figured it out." She points to the screen. "Right now, she's still hiding him. They have to get out of the Feudal Lord's lands if they want to be together because Ayame's father will kill her if he finds out about the adultery."

It was after the explaination does she realize that Chōrō is staring at her with light eyes.

"Nephew...?"

Chōrō shook his head, "Obasan, I am so pleased to see you adjusting so well to this world." He said, and Izumi stares at him. She didn't understand what he ment.

"Because of a soap opera?"

His body is suddenly wracked with coughs, and Izumi grabs a cloth from her kimono, presses it against his mouth. She supported his body while he let out wet gasps, and when he is finished, there is blood staining the white linen cloth.

"Nephew-"

He begins speaking, answering her former question. "No, because of the fact you watch TV or do all of the other modern things. I didn't even consider getting one until you gave me this one. And I've been alive. I'm happy for you. You've changed," He was smiling widely. "I may not be here for long, but for the time I am here, I want to know you are forever well."

"You're not the five year old I want to remember you as. You've grown wise in these last few decades." It touched Izumi's heart to hear the old, old man say such wise and kind words to her and she hugged him tightly. She didn't let go for minutes, and he held onto her just as tightly.

It took her another few minutes when they released each other to realize something.

"You copied those last few words from the show! You faker! And here I thought of my nephew as smart! _You half-dead baka_!"

...

Uzushio falls two weeks after Izumi meets Fugaku Uchiha. They pull Kushina out of class to tell her the news. They don't notice the Hyuga who had left to use the restroom behind them when they inform her.

Kushina is heartbroken and runs outside, yet no one goes after her. She needs time Sensei whispers to the ANBU.

Izumi wants to leave it alone. She really wants to. Something dark in her tells her that if Kushina is like this, she won't come to school. She will stay away of Minato.

But it is in that moment that Izumi realizes something. She can't bring herself to leave a girl hysterical outside just because of hair issues or jealously over a friend.

So she makes her choice, and it's a better one than she would have made before.

She chases after the Uzumaki.

...

"Kushina?" She approaches slowly, careful not to startle the teary-eyed girl. The redhead looks up with resentment in her eyes as she stares at the Hyuga.

"Here to stare at my hair again?!" She half-questions. "Why can't you just leave me alone! I didn't ask to be here, y'know!" At that her head drops again, and she presses her back up against the tree bark again. Izumi sits next to her quickly, ignoring the faces Kushina makes.

"No. I'm not here for that. Personally, I'm not blessed with the best hair either." She mentions lightly, but Kushina scoots away, her mouth snapped shut for once.

Izumi tries something else. " I'm I heard about what happened to Uzushio. I heard that everyone..." She has never been good with words. She doesn't know _how_ to comfort.

The redhead let out an angered noise, "They fought bravely, -attebane! I know they did!" Her anger wasn't at Izumi. It was at the world and the Hyuga knew that. She cautiously pulled the redhead closer in what she thought was a comforting manner, and the redhead looked startled, and less than pleased at the touch.

Her body shook with grief as she fought back tears, and Izumi didn't have to say anything else. She just had to sit there with her arm around the redhead.

That was enough. Because sometimes words aren't the answer for terrible situations.

Sometimes you just have to be there for someone else. Even if you don't like them.

...

 _ **Yes, you read it here, folks. Our favorite Hyuga hates Uzumakis, has an ungodly obsession with soap operas, and actually has a heart. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm on break so I will update more! Also, as some of you have inquired as who you wish Izumi to be shipped with, I must answer. To be honest, I never put much thought into it... I'm not to good at shipping to be honest! I mean I thought Hinata x Temari was a good idea. So, I'll just let you all decide for me.**_


	19. Chapter 20

Kushina Uzumaki is having the fight of her life against this girl, and she is painfully aware of that fact. It's as hard as fighting the adults in Uzushio even though Izumi Hyuga is almost two years younger than her, and Kushina doesn't possess even half this girl's grace or speed, and she can't keep up by just barraging her with well-timed punches and kicks.

Her defenses are almost as flawless as her offensive abilities and her eyes don't every seem to faulter in their tracking of her movements. At first Kushina tried to overwhelm her with simple speed and precision, but that failed quickly, because how do you fight someone whose entire fighting style is just speed and precision?

Kushina tries using those tricks she learned from her teachers—don't leave too many openings, get them angry, get them scared, wear them out before you, use your head —though none of these tricks seem to be working. It was like facing an adult, because the Hyuga is frighteningly patient.

New numbers were drawn for new partners, and unluckily for both girls, each drew the paper with the number 4 on them, and as far as Kushina knew, a partnership spar was done every year, but this was the first time she's ever fought a Konoha clan-kid.

She did everything she could but the damn Hyuga girl danced around her like she wasn't even there to begin with! Kushina swung, only to meet air, and another finger slammed against her arm (it left a mark), and her arm felt numb, so she settled for a swift kick that Izumi ducked away from, only to strike her leg with her finger.

Her entire right half is numb, and it feels like lead as she drops to the ground uselessly. The Hyuga doesn't even look back at her when their teacher calls the match, and she walks back to her usual group of flaky girls (including that annoying blond boy of all people), and Toshi-sensei has to pick Kushina up to take her to the nurse.

The arrogantly knowing smirk on the Hyuga's face as Kushina is carried away is enough to set her into a rage and peak her interest just enough to not demand a rematch to smash her face in.

Kushina Uzumaki does not take well to losing, and it just proves to further her desire to best her in a fight.

 _It was just luck_ , Kushina tells herself. _I'll win next time. I didn't know her fighting style. I will win next time._

...

Kushina's face is pressed into the earth as the Hyuga girl not only dodges her, but kicks her so hard, her body flies across the ground. She lands ungracefully into the dirt, head first, skinning her knees as she went and it does little good for her reputation.

"Hyuga-san wins...again. Uzumaki-san try not to leave so many opening, don't be so rogue in your attacks. Izumi don't be so rough on your classmate." Toshi-sensei scolds, and Kushina lifts her head just a little bit to see the Hyuga with her smug little smile as she chats innocently with her gang of flakes and it enrages her to no end. She makes a point as to wave at the fallen Uzumaki before she (as far as Kushina can tell) scolds that girly blond boy, and they walk towards the other students.

"Uzumaki-san, maybe we should switch partners back to last years. You would be paired with Nara-san," Her sensei says, but Kushina denies his offer in favor of keeping her position.

The only person to be paired with the Hyuga is girly boy Minato and she will be damned if the Hyuga got what she wanted all along. Kushina fought bullies and their genin siblings all the time. She could best a measily little girl who was in the big kid classes.

But, still Kushina had to admit, she had hoped that Izumi would be different. Kushina had opened up enough to show weakness in front of her, and she had thought that would be enough to start a lasting friendship.

But the Hyuga seemed to have completely forgotten about that in favor of being an outright bitch, and Kushina would have none of that.

Though, her mother always said to be nice to people, and to try and extend a hand to others. So that's exactly what she'll do.

If she wanted to be friends with anyone, it would be the Hyuga. Her reputation blew Kushina's out of the water. Red Hot-Blooded Habanero was nothing compared to White-Haired Demon. Izumi didn't even have to touch her opponents to get them to turn around and run, while Kushina settled for pummeling them half to death. It was impressive to say the least.

At lunch break, Kushina made the brave decision to march over there towards her little group to talk to her. She slams her bento down onto the old wood, and the Hyuga dismissed her group.

"Juncho, go see Mikoto and Hiromi. _Minato, stop blushing._ Follow Juncho." She orders, and the red-faced blond nods eagerly, hurrying away after the Akimichi girl who rolled her eyes but did as she was told.

Kushina pursed her lips, folding her arms as she stared at the Hyuga. "Hello."

"Hello." She said sunnily back, picking at her meal, but not saying anything else besides that.

Kushina looked at her, "You're not very social, y'know."

"Minato is social enough for both of us." The Hyuga shrugged her shoulders, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the food in front of her, but she takes a bite anyway. Kushina glares at her for a few moments, surprisingly quiet for her usual brash attitude, and she flicks pieces of rice at the Hyuga's face.

Her weird eye technique flickers to life, and she easily uses chakra to cut through the food being tossed at her, and Kushina stared at her bitterly. The source of most of her losses involved those strange veins and the Uzumaki didn't know how to beat the All Seeing Eyes.

"I'm going to beat you one day, Hyuga!" She tested the waters.

Without missing a beat, the Hyuga smiled. "I know."

"And I'm going to find a way to beat those eyes of yours, you know!"

So much for friendship, considering Kushina's threatening her, but the Uzumaki pride isn't letting up.

The Hyuga's smile only got bigger. "I'll give you a hint." She taps the back of her head, near the bottom. "No eyes are perfect. We all have weakness."

She stood up, leaving Kushina sitting there with half a bowl of rice and her bowl of salt ramen in a nice, expensive tupper.

Kushina appreciates a free meal, but she hasn't a fucking clue what Izumi meant by what she said.

...

The next five fights they have during the few weeks after seem to worsen, because now Izumi uses her kekkai genkai all the time and Kushina gets her bum handed to her each and every time.

The teacher insists they switch for more evenly matched partners, and when Kushina refuses, he asks Izumi to practice with her outside of school.

So she does (at the heavily wooded forest training ground 8), and Kushina puts her all into beating the living hell out of the arrogant little Hyuga, but as it turns out, only she gets beat up.

Kushina's anger burns brighter every fight because she just can't keep with those devilish eyes, but she also finds out that Izumi Hyuga has a sense of humor and is actual fun to talk with when she isn't blocking off your chakra points.

"Come on, Ku~shi~na." She sings, using her two arms to block a kick, and then grabbing onto the redhead's arms and flinging her feet away. Kushina lands on her feet in a crouch, using her position to go in for a tackle, and the girl jumps into the air, avoiding the Uzumaki completely.

"Try harder," the Hyuga advised softly. " _My_ Kakashi could put up more of a fight." She said fondly.

Kushina gritted her teeth, "You don't think I am, y'know! I'm doing my best!"

Izumi gave her a flat look, "It's not good enough. I gave you a hint." She attacked before Kushina could think, her palms flying into the redhead's arms, and Kushina jumped, yanking onto the Hyuga's braid tightly.

The Hyuga cried out, "Let go!"

The Uzumaki gripped it tighter, pulling so hard, she can jerk around the Hyuga's head. Kushina grinned, "I found your weakness! I found your weakness-" she paused in her tauntings when her grip on the hair was so tight, and it took her a few seconds to realize that the kunai in Izumi's hand wasn't just for show.

She staired at the braid in her hand and then at the purple streaking the newly cut white hair in shock and that's all she gets to do before the Hyuga punches her in the face so hard, it half knocks her out.

"If your going to find my weakness, use the right one, idiot Uzumaki..."

The next part Kushina doesn't hear, but Izumi throws it out as she walks away.

 _"You owe that punch to Mito."_

...

This time, I'm winning. Kushina thought as she prepared for the fight. Izumi attacked first like always, using her Jūken (yes, Kushina actually bothered to learn the names of her rival's moves) to disable her chakra, but this time, Kushina didn't rush into it.

She avoids those quick palms, and actually begins to give her a run for her money. "Come on, Iz~um~i."

Kushina has no idea when they got on a first name basis, but she taunts her all the same.

The Hyuga starts adding chakra to her blows, burning the skin on her arms, but Kushina is faster than when they first started and knows most of her tricks. She dodges the first swing, then jumps over the second that comes after it.

But she is mistaken, because Izumi has been holding back. In seconds, Kushina has no idea where she is, because she's fast, but she can't hide her chakra and Kushina senses it.

Kushina can't get a punch in.

"Y'know it would be easier if you stopped moving!"

"Why would I do that?" Izumi asked sweetly.

"Stop, dattebane!" She yelled in anger, then slapped her hands over her face, and she flushed in embarrasement at the verbal tick that had cursed her speech.

Izumi stares at her curiously, pausing in the fight. "Dattebane?"

Kushina looked away. _Damnit. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit._

"I talk to fast and weird words sometimes come out and-" She rushed, but stopped when Izumi started shaking her head, patting her on the shoulder.

"You don't have to explain anything to me." Izumi shrugged. "I understand."

"How do you know?" Kushina shot back hotly. "You don't have anything strange about you!"

Izumi started laughing, her entire body shaking like she knew something that Kushina didn't know. "No, my friend, I suppose _I don't have anything strange about me_."

Kushina isn't sure when they became friends, but she enjoys the feeling.

But that doesn't mean she won't kick her ass anyway.

...

She wins their next fight by accident and finally figures out what she meant when she said all eyes have weakness.

Kushina swings her fists, and Izumi moves out of the way, then ducks under the two clones that attack from behind.

Kushina curses as smoke surronded them from her failed shadow clones, and she knows Izumi can still see her because of those damn eyes.

She swings her leg out to trip her up, but Izumi dives over it, going to attack her chakra points, but Kushina is faster, tossing herself up off of the ground with all of her strength.

She lands behind Izumi, crouched down to prepare herself for a fight, when she realizes something strange. Izumi was frozen.

"Kushina?"

She turned her head side to side, but Izumi couldn't seem to find her despite the fact that she had the Bya- Byu-sagan- whatever it was called on.

 _She can't see me, y'know!_

Gleeful, Kushina crawled in the same spot as she was in when Izumi started going in circles to figure out where the hell she is, and the redhead has the biggest excitement she's felt since Uzushio...

"I punched the Uchiha heir in the face and then got to patch him up." Izumi called out, trying to get her to reveal herself. "If that counts as strange enough. I think me and him are friends now. What do you think?"

Kushina stays quiet, though she wants to comment on how that wasn't too impressive because shs is awesome and just because Izumi hit the Uchiha heir, that doesn't make her any better.

She has to wait for the right moment to strike. Izumi spins, and Kushina moves to to stay in her blind spot.

"I told my clan elders to fuck off."

Kushina holds in a laugh, because the Uzumakis had a lots of geezers (imagine that) and they were annoying as hell. She can imagine their old faces looking so aghst with horror at the language.

"I know you are here somewhere."

Kushina chooses that moment to go flying at her from the spot, and Izumi goes flying into the air. In her surprise, she didn't think to save herself and her head crashes into a tree branch.

Izumi doesn't move from the ground, even as blood trickled in a thin line down her forehead.

"Look's like you won." She said from her place on the ground staring up at the sky with a large grin.

Kushina threw her hands up, "I beat you, dattebane! I beat you! I beat you, y'know!" She jogged over there to her, staring down at her with a big grin.

Izumi sighed, finally sitting up, and wiped the blood off of her skin. "I told you even my eyes were faulted. It took you long enough."

Kushina puffed her cheeks, "It's your fault, -attebane! You could have just said that instead of hinting."

Izumi scoffed. "Oh please. I thought you could figure it out. _Minato did._ "

"You let all your friends beat the hell out of you with your weakness?"

"Oh, so we're friends now?" Izumi questioned.

Kushina rolled her eyes. "You said it first a few days ago! Y'know, you didn't answer my question!"

"No need to be so loud." Izumi hummed pleasantly. "Perhaps I made a mistake with you."

"You're not answering my question!"

The Hyuga smiled, shaking her head in annoyance. "No, I don't let everyone know my weak spot. That would be idiotic on my part."

She stands up, brushing grass off of her kimono, then gived a sharp tug to Kushina's hair. "That's for the other day." She adds. "No, I only share with the people with I'm truly fond of. So far, there's only two of them."

The Hyuga disappears, with a wave of her hand, down the trail towards the market.

...

 _ **Next chapter is graduation and genin teams. Bet you can't guess whose on her squad~**_

 _ **If you were confused by the end, all Hyugas have a blind spot, though most don't know about. Izumi doesn't share that lightly, though her blind spot is different that most Hyugas. Also, I changed my mind. I reread my story and decided pairing were to hard. She's a friend to all.**_

 _ **Enjoy and review. I apperciate critisizism on character flaws and the likes. Do help me improve as a write.**_

 _ **:D**_


	20. Chapter 21

It was raining when they graduated, solemn gray heavens leered down upon them, giggling and sprinkling the waters down onto them, and Izumi hadn't been sure, but she had thought it had been a bad omen for a disaster she would never quite understand. It was sunny the next day, the light eloping against the trees and the wildlife, and she had even invited Kushina to the compound for company, if only to show off her hitai-ate towards the Uzumaki who reminded her of her sworn enemy Mito, and even Kushina had thought that something was amiss by the aura around the place, like the sinking feeling of grief was expanding towards the brighter days of the gloomy season, and it was off.

It didn't rain for two days after that, the skies were blue and children were playing and Izumi could feel in her heart that something was wrong, but who was she to question it? Mirai had died before she had even felt something was going to happen, but this sinking feeling almost felt so natural that it was like she already knew who it would strike.

It was another week before they were assigned a shinobi squad and in that time, Izumi had her registration form and photograph finished, and she had made her way towards the Namikaze household. Minato always had been more of the comforting type- blushing and calm- like when he had talked to her for three hours when she had sworn something bad was going to happen. She supposed it may turn out to be in poor taste that he _had gotten used_ to her strangeness and omens, but how could she just drop these habits?

"So you think something bad will happen?" Minato looked amused, so amused that perhaps he thought it was funny when eight year old Hyuga Princess stormed into his house, half-calm and half-hysterical, waving her arms around, talking about omens and Kushina feeling it too, but she couldn't _call_ him out on that.

Izumi was frustrated, "Yes. I've told you this many times."

"Maybe..." Minato hesitates. "Well, who did you feel like it was going to strike?" His face changed when it saw the genuine concern on his friend's face, and he set a comforting hand on her shoulder. Izumi looked up at him, half ready to scream in frustration, because she _knew_ , but she also didn't know- it was like being caught in a paradox, like the entire world twisted and turned into one image or another. It was frustrating.

"Everyone, I don't know."

Minato gasped, "The Great Izumi doesn't know?"

The pale-eyed girl scowled, "You've hanged out with Juncho too much, y'know."

"Y'know?" Minato repeats. "That sounds like Uzumaki-san."

Izumi felt herself involuntarily blush, her cheek flaring up into a different shade of red than Kushina's hair, thank Amaterasu before the boy mentioned that. She felt the sting of chakra in her palms, considering if striking him would be appropriate (best friend or not). He did this quite a bit when she was honestly upset, figuring that annoying Izumi would get her mind off of things. Of course, this method usually involved a bit of jealousy, Minato's personality involving him only being snarky when comforting while Izumi walked around dripping in her own darker emotional tendencies. The young kunoichi sighed, "This isn't something you can just brush off, Minato. It's strange..."

Minato's eyes softened, leaning in to show support. "I know, but we'll be fine. I would say perhaps it is because we graduated? It is dangerous for shinobi out there." It made sense, of course it did, and Izumi hadn't seen the heat of battle since she...killed those ANBU with Shimura, but the twist inside of her chest felt different. It wasn't the nervous twinge she felt when she was younger before battle. It wasn't the idea of being a shinobi that worried her. It was like walking down the stairs in the dark, going to take another step that isn't there to feel that ice flow into your veins: real _panic_.

"I guess." She replies numbly, untying her shorter hair (she liked it ever since Kushina made her cut it) from the small ribbon she managed to get it into, and then retied it nervously. Minato didn't seem to understand her internal debacle, just accepted his answer as correct when looking at her blank face, so he wrapped an arm around her supportively, his large body blanketing her own.

Minato smiled down at her, "Don't worry," He assured. "There's a chance we'll be on the same and if not, we'll work together. I plan on being Hokage, remember? I plan on protecting everyone, especially you and Juncho and Uzumaki-san." He's so confident in his words, so older-sounding that it makes the undead woman smile lightly, her eyes shutting.

"Yes," She assures. "I have no doubts you will." And she didn't really, he was on par with her when she was that age the first time, mature, and had a natural mind for leadership, but that wasn't the problem. Now it was, because now, he got her all worried on if she could protect _him_ from the shinobi world that he's been thrust into unprepared. He was young- just turned ten because Izumi bought him fresh out of the blacksmith shop kunai as a birthday present- like she had been, like they had all been before they saw the life as a shinobi. He didn't know what it felt like to thrust a kunai into the abdomen of a man who killed your comrades, to watch people you know and care about bleed and die, to see the world as a whole.

There was no war (thank Holy Mother Amaterasu), but the life style itself was something that people, no children shouldn't see. Izumi could do her best to defend him with her life, to guard his blind spot as she would do his, but the chances of an enemy to kill him were high. The chances she was to slow, she messes up, and she has to make a choice between him and the mission...

The Hyuga kunoichi blanches, suddenly terrified over something else. Sure, even if she does protect him physically, can he mentally handle everything- _no, no, no, not them, not him._ She likes him- grudgingly, the usually blank-faced clan leader may even say she loves the boy as much as Natsu.

Minato nudges her, "You okay?"

 _No. You've made this worse!_

"Yes."

 ** _..._**

She wasn't wrong, no that was the terrifying part of her anxious feeling is that she isn't wrong? Why couldn't Izumi for once just to be wrong? It happened at Kushina's house, her mother at the market, and Izumi is lounging on the couch like she does at Minato's house when her fears are realized. Kushina is sprawled out, limbs hanging off and her head in Izumi's smaller lap, the redhead glaring at the TV where Ayame was riding her house out of the clutches of the cruel, disgusting Lord Dai, whose men were trying to close the gates. How cruel! Ayame just wanted her freedom from her depressing life in the the Land of Red, where he had the nerve to-

"This is boring, -attebane!"

"Kushina, stop whining, please. This is the new season beginning; I need to know what happens."

Kushina groaned, staring up at Izumi, who glares back down just as displeased as she was when Mito dared punch her, actually, this may even be worse than that humiliation, because Kushina had no taste in what she watches or real drama,.

"It's boring, though." Kushina insisted. "How do you sit here and watch these corny soap operas they fill in the Capitol." She moves for the remote and in seconds, Izumi had her flipped off of her, sending her towards the wall in a jumble of limbs, not taking her pale eyes off of the screen where she was entranced by the show she had watched since she was five years old (she would fight a thousand Warring Eras if it meant they got TV, soap opera were gifts from the Heavens), and the redhead let out a battle cry.

"This is my house, y'know!" Violet eyes sparkle with a mix of annoyance and excitement. "You can't _just_ do that." She looks ready for a fight, and Izumi is willing to give it to her, _after two o'clock when this is over._ Izumi's Byakugan flickers to life, bulging to life, and she manages to give a glare towards Kushina and still watch the program, and Kushina shudders under her scrutinizing gaze, huffing as she tosses herself back down.

"You have freaky eyes, worse than Mikoto's Sharing-gun."

"Sharingan, Tomato."

"Snowflake."

There was a moment after the last insult was thrown, and then Kushina laid her head back down onto Izumi's lap and they went back to what they were doing until her friend once again found boredom in what the Hyuga enjoyed and threw another fit to turn it off. Izumi could say it was safe to assume she would be willing to fight Kushina over this issue.

"So, I heard from Juncho that you were all worried with flaky-"

"Minato."

"Yeah him, so what about?"

Izumi sighed, silencing the screams of Lady Benten as she was running down the hall (hopefully she didn't die while she was talking to Kushina), "You remember that weird atmosphere when you were at my house the other day?"

"Yes." Kushina nods, eyes narrowing in confusion. "It was weird."

"I had a terrible feeling and I still do, I went to Minato for comfort, but he also made it worse, I suppose." The clan head mused, thinking of the conversation where the boy accidently gave her more problems, which was odd since he was very good at playing the counselor at times. He hadn't meant to, and it may be her wearier mind that caused such thought and fears to creep into her mind. It was not like she had exacted gotten used to all of her past demons, she still couldn't see certain things without flashbacks and nightmares, even putting seals around the compound to keep Danzo the hell away from her.

"That's because he's too girly, you need firmer support, y'know." Kushina proclaimed, ignoring the threat from the white haired girl's glare at the comment. "I'm a very good listener." She wasn't lying either, because once Kushina Uzumaki stopped talking, she could sit with you for hours, never losing herself in her own thoughts as you spoke. "What is the problem-"

The door slams open so quickly, Izumi jumps- she actually, viably jumps at the sudden and unexpected noise that her head whips around to the door leading into the hall where she sees a flash of blue dress and long red hair come flying down the hall, eyes wide. "Kushina? Izumi?" Her voice is scared mixed with loud, like she's holding in all of her emotions.

"Mom?"

"Naori-san?"

Naori Uzumaki is ready to burst when she gets into the room, throwing down the brown paper bags from the market, sweat dripping down her forehead, everything about her messy and so unlike her usual self that Izumi is actually ready to have a panic attack. Butterflies bounce around inside of crazily, but she stands up, taking two calm steps to the woman.

"What's wrong?" Kushina asks tenderly, one hand placed gently on her arm while Izumi retrieves the fallen groceries, hoping there were no eggs or peaches involved in the throwing since they were most likely destroyed if the dented cans had any say over this matter. "Is it something to do with Uzushio?" There is a mix of fear and hopefulness that makes the Hyuga wince while the older Uzumaki caught her breath enough to tell them.

"No, no, worse, Kushina, Izumi, worse!" Naori half-shouts, the motherly tone that Izumi loved so dearly gone. The Hyuga sets the bags on the coffee table, taking Naori's other arm and they lead her to the love seat, pushing her down as a team. Kushina sits next to her while Izumi stands.

"What is it, Naori-san?"

"I just heard it," Naori babbles. "I was at the bakery when this shinobi bursts in, grabs onto this woman and started talking loudly _'Suna attacked Kiri, they've attacked Kiri!'_ and I left as soon as I could, thinking it was nonsense, but as soon as I got out, there were people everywhere. _'Iwa blew up Mikio town.'_ "

"What's _Mikio_ town?"

"A stronghold for Konoha! Girls," Tears well up into blue eyes staring up at Izumi then move towards Kushina, sad and trying to remain calm for the, but Izumi can feel the tension. "Konoha has declared _war_."

Izumi isn't sure what happened after that, not even sure if she really comprehended the words, only felt all that bottled up fear from before release in a burst of nothingness as the world around blurred and she hit the floor with a useless thump against the wood.

 ** _..._**

The night before she received her squad, Kakashi spends the night, laying in the bed with her, staring at the ceiling like it was magic, avoiding his dark eyes, those ones that managed to get her to train him with kunai and shuriken, that got her to persuade his father. Of course, at three, the child was brilliant enough to ask the questions that stung the most into her old wounds, pouring salt into her scabs to burn.

"Are you going to fight?"

Izumi sighed, "Yes, all shinobi are necessary for war, even genin like me." Her pale eyes stayed bolted towards the roof, her fingers brushing against his smaller hands in a sign of comfort.

"Why?"

"Someone older said to, they declared war."

"Oh, so will you kill? Papa kills sometimes, he said so." Kakashi mumbles the last part, but Izumi bolts up in the bed, her hand reaching to flick the switch, light illuminating the bedroom. She stares at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing on the silly mask he wears; she hated it seeing as his little face was adorable. She yanked it down, despite his protests, staring at him wholly.

Izumi seemed frantic, "Sakumo told you?"

"He came back all covered in red. I asked. Will you?"

"Yeah," Izumi swallowed. "I will."

"It's not a bad thing like stealing cookies, right?" When his eyes got so big and innocent, Izumi will never know, but she winced as he spoke. "Because they're the bad guys, right?"

"No," Her throat tightened, flashes of blood splattering appeared before her eyes, the sound of metal scrapping against metal, the smell of death and smoke- "No, Kakashi, no. War, no matter how necessary or how justified it is, will always be bad."

"Then why are we?"

"Because foolish men said we were and we have to pay for someone who thinks their right fighting some else who thinks their right, just some fools kill other fools for foolish cause and making us pay for it."

 _"I want to build a world where kids do not need to kill other kids, where we'll have happiness and not see each other as enemies."_

 _"It does not seem possible, Senju-sama."_

 _"Call me Hashirama, Izumi-san. I can promise you; this war that we grew up in will be the war that ended all wars."_

 _"Do you swear upon Amaterasu?"_

 _"I swear."_

"Oh." Kakashi didn't fully understand yet, not this young even if he was a natural prodigy. "Oh. What if no one fights after this?"

"Kashi, there will never be a war to end all wars, never."

The painful part was she couldn't even bring herself to look at the headband sitting on her bedside table near the lamp ever since she found out about this war. Did anyone truly know what they were fighting for?

 ** _..._**

It was a solemn day when Izumi sat next to Minato; her head pressed against his shoulder, tired and weary. He was trying to be positive for the both of them, but you could see the same worry on his face like her own. Everything was weary already, it was easy to tell this would be no swift war, instead one to drag out and last since they had already invaded Grass Country to get into Fire Country. Izumi hadn't realized how much she really took for granite since she had arrived, finding herself getting used to the comfort of life without constant fighting and fearing when you had to step outside your doors, but her survival instincts returned swiftly. Her eyes remained blank, emotionless, her entire being as regal as she was once before, a kunoichi firm and strong.

Satoko-sensei was tired as she stood up on the pedestal in the front of the classroom, talking to them quietly individually, but the Hyuga refused to even think of going down there. Her headband was tied around her neck in respect towards all of the Branch members who had to wear theirs around their forehead, because it seemed the right thing to do. She knew of some who would be offended if her unmarked forehead was covered like a branch cadet. Kushina was frowning from her seat next to Izumi, one hand supportively next to the one in a fist on the desk top.

"You okay?" Kushina whispered into her ear as loudly as could be, making the Hyuga wince delicately glancing at the blond sitting next to her, who gives her a supportive smile. Izumi watched as Minato blushed red at the sight of Kushina staring at him, but it was more annoying than anything else at this point.

Izumi kept her smile brief, "Of course, and you two? This is a step for both of _you_ towards becoming Hokage after all."

Her eyes wonder onto Juncho, who wasn't even happy about anything despite the new and shiny medical pack she has on, and the Akimichi would usually be smiling over her dream coming true, but war was weighing heavily on everyone's minds and hearts. Even Mother had started to cry this morning when she started towards the Academy and Father was late to report to the tower to walk her to the Academy, hugging her longer than she had ever experienced before.

Kushina's eyes brightened, "I almost forgot about that! Yeah, it is, right blondie?" She grunted when the Hyuga jabbed with a small elbow into her side to leave the boy alone for once. Minato- always the peacemaker- ignored the comment all together, just nodded his agreement with a strong gaze that put Hashirama Senju to shame, if anything. It was almost amusing.

"Alright you magg-" Satoko stops halfway through demeaning them, pauses. She stares at them, her tough girl act falling away as quickly as it was once introduced. "I have had the pleasure of teaching all of you, and this is the last time I will be above you, because now you are all shinobi." Her voice is a whisper at the end, and she locks eyes with every single student, even Izumi.

She continues, waving around the papers. "I have the squads here. Team One is under Master Jiraiya; Minato Namikaze, Manami Ringo, and Juncho Akimichi." There is a moment of absolute silence after the first all, everyone gaping at the woman, and then all eyes were suddenly locked onto Minato and Juncho, then finally pausing on Manami (who is trying to look smaller under the stares), but Satoko coughs for their attentions.

"Lucky bastard," Kushina murmurs under her breath, but the sharp stare that Izumi delivers is another to shut her up. The Hyuga genuinely grins, rubs his shoulder, giving him as a tight a hug as she can manage to without hurting him.

"Good job, Minato." The eight year old (well, sort of eight years old, kind of) pecks him on the cheek quickly, ignoring the way he shudders, his eyes on the ground. "You are on a squad with Juncho, so make sure she doesn't hurt Manami-san, alright?" Izumi jokes, winking at Juncho who's beaming ear to ear.

"Team Six under Sakumo Hatake..."

Izumi's eyes widen.

"Kushina Uzumaki."

 _Please, please, please..._

"Zan Konkuna."

 _No! Never mind!_

"Izumi Hyuga."

"Yeah!" Kushina's hand pumped in the air, but both Zan and Izumi looked sick to their stomachs, less than pleased by the situation. The boy wasn't terrible looking now, his curly hair short and his dark eyes just a tad brighter than before when he was the school bully, but he grew up. It wasn't that she hated the boy who tried to hurt Juncho because of her weight, but she did hate his rough and unruly behaviors, and would prefer anyone else on her squad. She scowled at him, but smiled at the bragging grin on Kushina's face as she looked at Minato, smug violet eyes shining.

Izumi sighed, trying not to let the tug on her lips turn into a smile, but it did anyway. The door opened quickly, three men slipping inside, one being a very familiar grey haired man whose grin was contagious, waving to her.

"Squad Four with me!" The first man barked.

Sakumo waved his hand to her, "Squad Six, let's go to the roof. Race."

All three kids dove out of the classroom as quickly as possible, Kushina in the lead.

 ** _..._**

Izumi won.

She kicked out her red haired teammate's legs to get ahead.

 ** _..._**

Sakumo smiled at his new students, well- two new students and his goddaughter, who's impassive as can be with an Uzumaki chatting in her ear and a rough and tough boy stabbing his finger into the roof next to her in a _click_ noise. He had never thought he would ever want a squad, but of course it had been his teammate Asuka's idea to apply for it, and the Hyuga was scary when she wanted to be. She was a great squad leader to her bunch and recommended him for her daughter's team before Sakumo had even really given the idea thought. It looked a little too late for him to back out of this now, seeing all three little eyes staring at him like he's the center of the universe (and until they were jonin, he was) which was endearing, except these are children. How did you train or act around real children? Kakashi was advance and Izumi- well; she was a totally different story. The feared White Fang gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Alright, my name is Sakumo Hatake. I have a son and a goddaughter," He introduces, ignoring the way Izumi scowled at him with delighted and bored eyes all at once, and looked instead to Zan's determined gaze. "I'm close to Jiraiya-san, meaning you three will work closely with that squad if they pass the test. I have a deep dislike of dango-"

"What test, y'know?" His red haired student burst out loudly. He paused, taking in the loud girl, and decided he could see what was so appealing about it from Izumi's stand point. She was amusing so far, and probably his favorite student, ignoring Izumi (who is still scowling at him and Zan). He managed a weary smile of some sort.

"Well, Kushina, genin fresh out of the Academy aren't always made for the shinobi life. In fact on one-third of you will continue as shinobi, and it is our duty to test you to make sure we don't assign you back to the Academy or drop you from the program."

Zan's eyes widened significantly. "You can do that?"

"Yes, I can, but you three won't have a test."

"Why not?" demands the youngest and shortest squad member. Her eyes are narrowed.

Sakumo's entire body slumps and he shakes his head slowly, running a hand through his hair in his stress, then looks at all three of them. "I will not lie, you have become shinobi at a perfect and terrible time, the war going on requires more shinobi. I can't afford to let you three go, so no test from me, there will always be a need for you three."

"How long is the war going to last?" Kushina questions, but before he can even think to answer her question, Izumi cuts him off first.

" _Forever_. As soon as this one ends, there will be another, there is always  another."

 ** _..._**

 ** _I have returned, my dearest readers and apologize for my absence, I've been ill for quite a while and then had so much to do-_**

 ** _Alas, I have returned for a period of time! I bet you didn't guess who would be on her squad and who would lead? Expect more updates these next few months, and I know Izumi's sad and depressing, but her happy world just sort of shattered back into what she escaped from her time period. Who remembers Zan, huh? Drop me a review, please, if you have time. What do you like? Don't like? What do you think will happen?_**

 ** _Well, enjoy._**

 ** _VV_**


	21. Chapter 22

Her nephew dies one evening before Izumi has the chance to visit him (which has been customary for her on Thursdays), and he isn't found until three days after his death by a messenger send by Lady Hibana over a trivial matter. On Thursday, after training with her new squad, she runs home as fast as she can to tell him all about her day, only to find a group of solemn clan members surronding his home, and she has to shove her way past them. His body is laid on a white stretcher, covered up by a white sheet, and Izumi isn't surprised to have the adults yank her back. They hold onto her arms while she rallies against them, throwing her body weight into getting away from calloused hands and not so comforting hugs.

They have to call Mother to drag her home.

 _It had been easy death_ , everyone whispers on the day of his wake, a _truly easy death. Just a heart attack that took him while he was in front of his couch watching a soap opera._ The medics all said after the autopsy that he died like he fallen asleep, in one swoop and he was gone. Izumi doesn't disagree, it was the death he would have wanted, happily enjoying the dramatics of whatever was happening on screen, and then eternally sleep (her own death felt warm, she wonders if her nephew felt warm too).

Izumi feels herself swallow hard as everyone around her takes their turns to go up to give him a flower (all white hydrangeas, how sad and dull and so so lifeless), and when it was her turn, her father gently pushed her back.

This wasn't her first wake, and it wouldn't be her last, so she keeps her composure-at first anyway, untill she actually strides to the oak coffin. Her nephew, her little nephew whose birth she attended, who had a stutter when he was little, whose hair was the same purple shade as his aunt's-

He was _dead_.

He was lying in a coffin, wrinkled and waxy hands folded neatly. A crisp, unblemished cloth is draped over where his eyes used to be before they were disposed of for clan reasons since he was unmarked. Izumi knows that most people often said that their deceased loved ones usually looked like they were simply sleeping at how peaceful their corpses were, but not _him_. He didn't look alive because he would never act like this when he was alive. He was louder than most Hyugas, had a sense of humor unmatched in his solemn clan, and always moved in someway. He was always twitching or touching something or tapping. Even when he fell asleep into naps during her visits after nights of binge watching soap operas filmed in the Capital, he even move in his sleep or lightly snore. He was dead.

Izumi loses all control the minute the brightly colored violet she picked from around her sister's memorial bench lays on all the white of death, and she chokes on a sob, stumbling backwards, unaware of how Lady Hibana scowled at her behavior. She turns, heartbroken and so utterly alone now, to her parents. Her throat closes rapidly like she she's choking on something, and her chest burns with a new, horrific emotion. Her face turns an ashen color and her eyes brighten red with tears. She can't breath. _She can't breath!_

Asuka gasped, the long sleeves of her black kimono covering her face at her only child's reactions, obviously surprised, but Noboru swoops into action. He moves quickly, suddenly has his white haired daughter in his arms, pressing her to his warm chest as the tears start to fall. The rest of the clan is silent as Asuka falls her husband and daughter out of the wake, and Izumi feels her face wetten with salty tears.

She should feel ashamed, she knows, for sobbing like a little girl, but she isn't because her nephew (the last part of her old world and sister) has left the world to be with the Gods and Goddess that she so often prays too. Izumi is sobbing because Mirai was gone too and Natsu was long dead. Hashirama, Tobirama, her cousin Tadashi, her mother and father of the old world. She wants her nephew back! She wants to sit on his weird smelling couch and watch television and light the lavender scented candles when he asked and..and...Everything was going wrong! The new war, the old wars, the loss-

"It's okay, sweetie. Daddy's got you." Noboru whispers into her hair as he rocks his crying daughter, and it's not the first time that he's done this. He's always done this since she was a quiet infant, holding her to his chest, telling her everything would be okay, and it's the first time Izumi's ever needed it. She's not a child mentally. She was an adult, but...

Asuka softly rubbed her back. "We know it hurts, my beautiful spring." She cooed, like Izumi was a small child, not a preteen/adult. "We know how close you were to him. Death is something that happens to everyone."

They hold her close and squeeze her tight, and for the first time in her entire two lives, Izumi finally realizes she has parents who truthfully care about her, but it's an empty feeling now without her nephew.

 _ **...**_

During war, personal loss isn't a good enough for you to miss training exercises or missions or any number of tasks that could be pushed off to someone else, so the next day (the day of his funeral, that she's missing) Izumi is standing at the edge of a training field, kunai in hand, eyes on the prize as she listens to her surrounding _without_ her Byakugan.

Kushina's breath was barely a noise at all, but it was loud enough to comfort for her to know she was there, and the redhead was crouched only two feet away on her left side, hidden by some brush that was thick enough to cover her bright red hair. Their third teammate, smug Zan, was positioned exactly twenty three inches to her right, a hand on the hilt of his tanto, dark eyes narrowed as he waited.

A movement two kilometer north of their position was coming at them rapidly, and Izumi knew what she had to do. Her wrist flickered out of her sleeve for only a moment, barely a movement at all, but it was all Kushina needed before she left her spot, flying west away from their approaching opponent.

Zan- the idiot- didn't get the signal or didn't care to follow her example because he stayed rooted in his area, not fully prepared for attack, just holding the hilt of his blade. Izumi cursed her luck as the famed White Fang came out of nowhere, disappearing into her blind spot for only a second long enough to confuse the kunoichi, or well, catch her partially off guard to the edge of his blade coming at her spine. Kushina cried out, bouncing off a tree to attack Sakumo's unshielded side. He caught her easily as Izumi spun into a chakra-induced defense (a sad, sloppy version of the Hyuga's Rotation). Sakumo caught her teammate by the edge of her shirt, throwing her aside, and Izumi heard the slight rasp of material ripping when Kushina was released.

Izumi glided backwards, barely missing getting stabbed by Zan's wild stabs with a sword he has no business having in the first place if he thinks butchering is it's only use. The veins slowly descended back into her face, and Izumi stood with palms raised in defense, waiting for her godfather to strike down her teammate.

"Zan!" Sakumo complained, easily twisting the genin's wrist to get him to drop the blade, kicking him into a tree. "We've worked on techniques for a whole week, you've got practice at home, this is just getting pitiful. You're out."

Kushina wailed a battle cry, fist centimeters from colliding with their sensei's face when Sakumo ducked out of practiced reflex, and the White Fang actually had the gall to smile. To _smile_ in amusement, like this was a fun game and he wasn't teaching two kids what they'll need to survive in a war. Kushina tumbles into the dirt, and a quick kunai thrown by her leader keeps her pinned down by her bright cherry hair.

"Kushina, you might want to consider cutting your hair!" Sakumo calls out. "You're out too."

"Damn." Kushina cursed, trying to yank her hair off thre ground where the kunai was sunk into the dirt, but failing miserably at her attempt.

Izumi's feet dragged against the dirt when he pushed her back with a very well timed swing of his blade, and all the while, they held a firm gaze with each other. Izumi's palm turned slightly, a quarter of an inch, and chakra burns into the soft skin of her palms. The undead woman smiles slightly in challenge, lips turning upwards partially, and she doesn't even have to move before her power- her clan's prized technique- pulsed towards her godfather. It wasn't enough to kill, but it does send him flying backwards, surprised.

"Are you serious? Asuka taught you Hakke Kūshō?" He grunted in pain, standing up and stretching. "It's been years since your Ma got mad enough to hit me with one of those. Forgot how much they hurt."

"I still surprise you? I thought we understood I am... _talented_."

Izumi rushed him. He dipped backwards, slashing downwards with the sword. Izumi dodgec the first swipe with a honed sense of the battlefield. Sakumo was everything the legends had said he was, he was extraordinary, but he was not Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju, he wasn't the warriors of old that Izumi faced in battle every other weekend. He was from a softer generation. The second swing was instant and she parried with a kunai from her side pouch, and the blade clashed against the metal. Sakumo was almost inhumanly quick (the last man she thought that about was Tobirama and look what he became), slashing at the close range kunoichi.

Sakumo swung at her with the blade, enough to distract her so he could slam a fist into the tender flesh of her chest, stunning her momentarily, opening her up for another attack and sidekicked into the child-not child's stomach, doubling her over. Sakumo went to finish with his sword, but Izumi sidestepped to the right just enough and it missed only a centimeter.

Kushina managed ton fish the kunai out of her hair, and sat on the sidelines with a pouting, obviously pissed off Zan, cheering loudly for their Hyuga comrade, pumping her fists in the air at every motion from her closest friend. Izumi glanced over at her and so did Sakumo. Thought it was just a flicker of the eye for barely a second, it was all the former warrior princess needed to maneuver herself front flipping towards her godfather. She used her momentum to her advantage; her chakra boosted her into a fast swing that took Sakumo to the ground with relative ease, and Sakumo was pulled off his feet and was thrown violently across the floor.

Sakumo was at least surprised by the sudden attack.

"That's it," He groaned. "I'm telling your parents."

"Hmph!" Izumi replied, already above him, spinning downward with her leg out to smash into his body. Just as she was about to reach him, he ducked out of the way, and her leg smashed into the hard ground painfully, and suddenly he was behind her. He had her by her kimono-like shirt, using it like a sling, and throwing her as hard as he could towards the forest with their broad trees.

The entire area went silent as the kunoichi spun out of control through the air. Kushina's cheers died on her lips as Zan finally looked interested in the battle (only for her defeat, of course). Izumi barely had time to breath, so she used her chakra to cushion her fall, tumbling in the dirt, slamming into the ground with her knees and ankle taking the brunt of the abuse. It was her experience in battle that got her to her feet again, panting, this body still too small and slow and weak and tired too do what she needed it to.

She moved to take a step, but her ankle twinged with pain before buckling, and she was down.

"And Zoom-Zoom is out, too."

Izumi flushed at the old nickname while Kushina came barrelling towards her, shouting. The redhead grabbed her up by her waist, swooping her into the air, chatting furiously about the match itself and probably not breathing. Izumi made an odd squeak at the sudden embrace, still dizzy from the match, and wanting her feet on the ground instead of in the air while Kushina flung her around.

"That's a cute noise, y'know." Kushina noted when she set her Hyuga companion down, and then her face turned into a scowl. "Mom's not gonna be happy about my hair. I had to cut part of it to get that other kunai out."

"It's still really long," Izumi amended. "You didn't really lose much."

Sakumo clapped his hand. "Alright guys, that's all for today. Go home, get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow." He announced. "Be here by nine, I'll be discussing what was good and bad about today and then we'll head to the Hokage's office for a mission-"

"What sort of mission?" Kushina crossed her arms. "Another one of those catch the stupid animal ones?"

"Or weed a field one?" Zan interrupts.

The light demeanor that Sakumo had moments before disappears. He looks serious, so serious that Izumi's eyes narrow and she straightens up, all of her attention on him.

"No, a real mission..." He murmurs. "Not on the front lines, just yet." Sakumo doesn't sound confident in that. "But something serious. I want you all prepared and ready. Missions are not training exercises. You will do as I say, and I will do my best to bring you all back alive. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

 _ **...**_

While she walks back to the compound, Izumi's mind is heavy with past traumas and bloodshed and battles she'll probably never forget, and the looming mission is enough to make her forget about her nephew's death (for the moment, at least). It's dark by the time she stumbles back towards the road home, the sunset only a few short minutes ago, and she kicks a drink can uselessly with her food, hands clenched into tight fists. She missed his funeral. Just like she missed his childhood and his siblings' childhoods, and every other important moment in her family. Tears brim in her eyes again and when did she, the most feared kunoichi in all of the Warring Era, become this weak-

"Izumi!" Minato calls out, surprising her as he moves from his spot in a tree branch almost ten feet above her. He lands gracefully, jacket flying up, offering her a small smile. "I waited for you."

His honest face is a comfort, and she manages a blank smile. The child-woman blinks back her unshed tears, composes her face. "Thank you." Izumi replies numbly.

Minato walks alongside her, his road and hers near each other up ahead, and they don't speak. They don't need to speak, because they know each other well enough to be content in the familiar silence, and presence alone is a comfort. But she breaks it anyway, for his sake at least (or maybe her own, this new loss is heavy on her chest).

"We have a serious mission tomorrow."

Minato looks sheepish, "We had ours a few days ago."

"Oh? To the front lines?" Her heart is beating too hard in her chest, ready to explode, but the blond shakes his head quickly.

"Not yet. It was just a patrol near the gates. What do you think the front lines are like?"

"Boring."

"Really?"

"It's not like war heroes describe it. It's not all action. Most of it's just patrol and biding your time until something happens."

Minato shoot her a confused look, cocking his head to the side. His eyes are sharp and inquisitive, making her curse her poor luck at the moment as she knows immediately that she has said far _too_ much- stupid, stupid girl.

"You sound like you've been there before."

"Oh," Izumi waves it off, unconvincingly. "My dad and mom told me."

"Oh." Minato repeats back. "That makes sense."

The road splits and they go in opposite directions.

Neither of them are fully convinced.

* * *

 ** _I'm back, guys! I appreciate any comments and am glad to inform you, I will be updating more often!_**


	22. Chapter 23

"Do you have all of your kunai? Socks? Here, give me the bag, baby girl-" Asuka snatched the plain, shinobi-grade backpack away from her child in one swift motion- " _Ah_! I knew it! You forgot to get some aloe in case of sunburn, I may have some in the cupboard...Wait! Did I use it? Shit, maybe Oka has some." Mother rushed around, pulling things out of different cabinets at speeds only used in combat.

Father laughed, sweeping her off her feet, kissing her cheeks. "You're overwhelming her, Asuka-koi." Noboru laughed, shaking his head, swinging her around like Kushina had swung Izumi around days ago. Asuka looked just about as amused as Izumi did when it happened to her. "It's not even a patrol. They're going to a post and back to check for disturbances. She doesn't need extra socks or ointments or bandages. She's going to _be fine_." He soothed.

"Shut up," Asuka demands, offended, shoving herself out of her husband's grip. "This is my only baby going off on her first big girl mission! What if something happens? What is she needs some medicine? Or runs out of shuriken in the middle of a fight?" Her voiced turned to pure worry and fret, and she moved back to her daughter. Izumi frowned when she felt Asuka untie her hair, and retie it into a bun. _Again_. For the fifth time, to assure herself it was tight enough and wouldn't fall if they got into a fight.

"Maybe you should wear your headband on your forehead. A kunai through the skull would probably hurt..."

Izumi looked to her father desperately, motioning with her hands, and silently pleading for help to get away from the worried mother and her muses. Noboru winked at her with a playful grin, and gently took his wife's shoulders.

"Koi, it's a lot safer for her to have it around her neck. You don't want them to nic an artery, do you?" Noboru tried to assure, but all that happened was pure horror on the mother's face as she began to sway on her feet. She was staring at Izumi in terror, uncertainly filling her eyes.

Asuka broke into a wail, "She's too young, Noboru! We can't send her out there."

"Honey, it's barely even a mission. You took Hiashi-san on one and he's the clan leader's son. This is one of the exact same mission your squad started out with and they all got through it easily."

"I'm a good leader. Any number of things _could have_ gone wrong."

"So is Sakumo, remember? You _deliberately manipulated_ him into the position of leading our daughter. It's going to be fine, but right now, we need to let Izumi meet with her teammates or she'll be tardy."

"But...she's my baby."

"I'll be home soon, Mother." Izumi promised, finally speaking up after an hour or so of fretting worrying. She leaned down to retrieve her fallen travel pack, slinging it over her head, and securing it on her back. "It's all going to be alright," She assures, moving to stand in front of the half-weeping woman, and she tenderly took her mother's hand into her own.

She squeezed.

Asuka squeezed back tighter, like she didn't want to let her go, and Izumi wouldn't have blamed her for it, because she remembers how much she feared when Kakashi would have to go on missions. That was years from now, but she imagined the same exact terror would smack her hard in the face.

"Come give your Papa a good hug." Noboru said, getting to his knees, arms out. Asuka releases her hand, pushes her shoulder gently, and Izumi launches at him, wrapping her arms around him with all her strength. He did the same, and Asuka hovered, unsure. This is different. Her past father wasn't the hug and snuggle type; her first mission, he didn't even see her off or give it to her directly. He had a messenger give her the mission, then left for a meeting almost twenty kilometers away. She was utterly alone and disvalued. And her mother? Dead. But here was Asuka, who barely wanted to let her go.

"That's my girl! Her first out of village mission!" Noboru exclaimed. "If any trouble comes up, give 'em hell just like you did with that old witch Hibana-"

Asuka cut in, "You mean my _mother_ Hibana?"

"Uh..." Noboru swallowed nervously. "There's no right answer to fix this, is there?"

Asuka shook her head, arms crossing, lips puckering in amusement.

"Oh Kami, Izumi, baby girl, love of my life, my favorite child, please let me go on the mission with you? Please?"

"You said it, not me." Izumi replies kindly. "I have to go."

She makes sure to smile confidently as she leaves her house, padding across the wood while her parents are distracted by their own bickering. She slips on her shoes, opening the door as the arguments get louder and more extravagant.

"-and who eats sushi without any soy sauce?"

"Normal people, Asuka, normal people-"

Izumi shuts the door silently behind her as the last of the bickering slowly fades, her body moving almost automatically to the gates of the compound, and she's halfway out as she goes over every detail of the mission they were assigned that morning. It was as simple as simple could be; small children from her era did this almost daily.

There was a small post near the edge of the border of the Land of Fire, just close enough to Konoha for them to send genin squads, but far enough away for it to take a day's journey. The mission was simple, the post was generally for supply lines, meaning it could be targeted for attack. Due to the close proximity to the village, it wouldn't be a wise strategic plan to attack it, but just because other villages were smart enough to not waste the effort, thieves and burglars were _not_. The whole mission was to due a quick patrol, account for all the supplies, and generally just deal with the cleanliness of the building before returning back to the Hokage for payment. It would take two or three days at the most.

"Oh!" A voice called. "Izumi!"

Izumi blinked out of her stupor, shaking her head, realizing she was standing halfway between the main gate and the outer part of town. She was staring at Minato, who stood directly in her face, the same sheepish and awkward smile on his lips as always. She shook her head again, turning back to look behind her, wondering how strange she must have looked walking through the village with her mind somewhere else entirely.

Minato softly laughed at the look on her face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She assured, frowning. "What are you doing here? I thought it was your day off?" Izumi keeps her tone pleasant, eyes barely moving the check the sun's position in the sky for the time (these days clocks were used, and while useful, would never help a lost shinobi if he didn't have one). She had time for a short chat, she supposed. Punctuality was less stressed these days.

"It is," He agrees. "So I wanted to wish you luck on your mission."

"You did?" Izumi felt her face flush slightly, looking away from his eyes. "That's very nice of you. Thank you, Minato." She's smiling- a real smile this time- at him, and bows her head respectfully, hands outstretched and clasped together as if praying to Lady Amaterasu.

He stares in confusion, "Is that like a clan thing?" Minato questions with curious eyes on her, and Izumi realized her mistake (so so many of those lately), and she nodded vigorously.

"A clan thing. For...clans. It's respectful."

It's also more than fifty years outdated and not used, but what could she do now?

"It's a pretty pose-Oh...I meant to give you this!" He says cheerfully, holding out something in his hands. It was a piece of brocaded pink silk with embroidered kanji in it. "I know you like sorta old and superstitious things, so I got this. It's called an omamori."

"I know this one...yaku-yoke. To ward off evil."

"Or in this case, enemy shinobi." Minato smiled. "You can wear it on you backpack for good luck on your first mission outside of the village."

Izumi moved the edge of her pack, grasping the small rope away from Minato. She tied it onto the zipper of the end of her bag, tying it as tightly as possible to keep it on there. She remembered a few of these were hand woven into blankets and sheets and even carved into kunai when she was a young girl. Her mother had _anzan_ stitched into her blanket before she died, if Izumi remembered clearly.

It was a nice gesture and (in someways) a comfort to have on her person.

"Thank you, Minato."

He moved closer to her, squeezed her shoulder. "Juncho helped pick it out. She may have came to wish you off too, but she's dead tired. Jiraiya-sama makes us work very hard."

"Oh? What's he like?"

Minato paled for a moment before his face turned a light pink."He's very powerful, but he has some...issues."

"Issues?"

"Just try to stay away from him." He laughed awkwardly, looking away towards the gate. "Oh, I see Kushina-san." His face got redder, this time not out of embarrassment of his teacher. He was as bright red as the girl's hair. "O-Oh, she's coming towards us!"

"I-zu-mi!" Kushina cried out, bolting towards them in long waves of crimson, stopping in front of the pair with a grin. She slung one arm around Izumi's thin shoulder, pulling her in close like a good buddy, and the Hyuga flinched slightly at the tight grip. There were very few things that made her uncomfortable, but a major one was being suddenly grabbed at. Her face stayed steady, and she patted Kushina's arm awkwardly on her side.

Touching was still something she did not understand. It was a foreign subject to her seeing as she spent about twenty two years without hugs or kisses or this...friendly headlock?

"What're you doing over here with _him_?" Kushina said. "We're supposed to be waiting for Sakumo-sensei and the baka."

"Please do not call Zan that." Izumi replied. "It just starts another conflict.

"It's not like he's right here to hear me, y'know!"

"I was wishing Izumi good luck." Minato said passively. "The same to you, Kushina-san."

Kushina raised an eyebrow, not letting go of her grip on Izumi's neck and shoulders, and used her free hand to point at him. "You okay there?" She exclaimed. "You're looking really red, y'know."

Minato's eyes widen. "I'm fine." He looked at Izumi, waving. "I have to go. Kushina-san, Izumi, good luck!" With a single handsign, he was gone in a light cloud of dust, and it was the two of them still standing there. Kushina leaned in close to Izumi's face.

"What a weirdo, huh?" She grinned.

Izumi shrugged.

"Hey!" Sakumo's shout interrupted the pair. Kushina released her, as both kunoichi swung around the face the gate. He stood there, waving his arm around to get their attention. An annoyed, disgruntled Zan shot them a stair.

"Let's go!" He shouted.

Kushina scowled, grabbing Izumi's hand, sprinting.

The undead kunoichi simply sighed as she dragged along.

 _ **...**_

There are liars everywhere in the world, but the biggest ones are often the people you respect the most, such as the old shinobi sitting in their chairs, injured leg propped up, spouting out nonsense about the heat of battle. And sure, that story is most likely true, but the part they don't tell you about is the most important one, such as that the days, weeks, seconds, minutes before the action starts, it is almost assured you will spend that time in unwarranted dread of attack or boredom.

Izumi's sure of one thing only: usually it's always only boredom. The morale of shinobi, the lack of vigilance, the mistakes happen when your mind wanders, so Izumi's calm, keeps her Byakugan on as the walk.

 _One. Two. Three...Nine Birds to the East, three kilometers._

It's the most productive thing to do with her chakra, but she could not stand to walk another mile in silence, simply staring at the road ahead. Dirt and dust have gotten into her shoes, each step grittier and less pleasant than the last. Walking wasn't productive. Necassary, yes. But not stimulating.

"Izumi," Sakumo says, falling from his frontal position to meet her in the back, standing beside her as Zan and Kushina trek on to their sides. "See anything?"

"Should I?" She retorts. "It's a simple mission."

Sakumo frowns, "I've seen simple missions turn nasty." He glanced at his two other students and then back to Izumi. "I just want to be sure. Besides, shinobi might not be after a supply line when they could come after what we have on this squad."

Izumi's lips fell into a hard, straight line.

"You mean my eyes and Kushina's...passenger."

"Kushina might actually be safer." He says lowly, just enough so the undead woman can hear and not the others. "Not many know about _it_ or have the perception to sense it. Your eyes however are on display. Easy targets because you look so small. Maybe you should wear your headband on your forehead?"

Izumi hesitates, flashback to a night under the moon with a messenger, a spar with cousins, the screaming of marked members all due to a curse mark they had no say in; the utter shame of having to wear a headband to cover it, no matter the pride of your village. She feels sick and ashamed at the same time. Her hand trembles just a bit, enough for her to have to wrestle back a bout of anxiety.

"I'd rather not."

Sakumo frowns, but doesn't argue against her. It would be an added percaution, but not a necassary one. He's seen the bodies of ANBU on her living room floor, the way she can tears through soft tissue and overwhelm her enemies with chakra. Izumi may not be what she was a whole life ago, but she was anything but helpless.

"Keep your eyes out for those two, alright?"

"Of course."

And that was true. Izumi's first and foremost concern was for the welfare of her team, it weighed heavily upon her as the sensor of the squad. Her eyes had the depth to see farther than either Zan or Kushina. She had to be the first to know, alert, and fight. Besides that, she didn't want anything to happen to the red-haired kunoichi. She was close (maybe best) friend to Izumi, a good companion, and to be honesty, Izumi _really really_ enjoyed having sleepovers at Kushina's house. She refused to lose her to battle or kidnappers. She meant to much to Izumi for that to happen. Now, Zan, he was expendable to a point. It wasn't that she would let him die in particular, but if it came down to Kushina or Zan, Izumi had her choice made. It was more loyalty to a comrade that fueled her feelings towards him. He was brash, foolish, and had quite the mouth, but didn't mean she wanted him dead.

"What're you two whispering about?" Kushina asked. Sakumo straightened up, a small smile slipping to his lips.

"Which one of you we're eating first if we run out of supplies."

Zan saw his opportunity and he took without a second thought of the consequences. As it turns out, he didn't handle silence well either. He bottled up all of nasty comments. "Tomato face first; she's got enough chub on her cheeks to feed us for days."

Kushina looked angry (face going red, fist clenching, hair gravitating), but Izumi cut her off before she could attack, speaking before Kushina had the chance.

"I was thinking you since it's only fair to all involved to let the ugliest go first." Izumi retorted. "When we are rescued, there is no need to drag back your ugly mug."

Kushina's fist pumped in the air. "Ha! My girl, Izumi, has always got my back, baka!" She exclaimed, making Sakumo snort. The man rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air.

"Now I can't even trust you three not to eat each other. Why couldn't I have gotten a decent squad?"

Izumi smirked, tipping her head into something more intimidating, her veins bulging more with added chakra. "You know, it's only fair to go by whose had the longest life." Which technically would be Izumi herself seeing as she should be in her nineties at the moment, but she digresses. "So if disaster strikes, we'd have to eat you, sensei."

"Sacrificed by my own goddaughter! You're just like Asuka; you both have frozen hearts."He grumbled. "You two wouldn't sacrifice me, would you?" He pleaded to Kushina and Zan. The red-haired girl smirked, crossing her arms, looking away quietly.

Zan shrugged his shoulders, remaining similarly as quiet. They slowly formed back into the diamond shape they had began the journey in while Sakumo watched them with wide eyes.

"Guys? What does silence mean? What are you plotting?"

No response.

"Guys!" He whined.

 _ **...**_


End file.
